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pinwheel

or pin wheel

[ pin-hweel, -weel ]

noun

  1. a child's toy consisting of a wheel or leaflike curls of paper or plastic loosely attached by a pin to a stick, designed to revolve when blown by or as by the wind.
  2. Also called catherine wheel. a kind of firework supported on a pin which, when ignited, revolves rapidly and gives a dazzling display of light.
  3. a wheel having pins at right angles to its rim for engaging the teeth of a gear.


verb (used without object)

  1. to revolve rapidly like a pinwheel:

    Images of the past pinwheeled through his mind.

pinwheel

/ ˈpɪnˌwiːl /

noun

  1. another name for Catherine wheel
  2. a cogwheel whose teeth are formed by small pins projecting either axially or radially from the rim of the wheel
  3. a toy consisting of plastic or paper vanes attached to a stick in such a manner that they revolve like the sails of a windmill Also called (in Britain and certain other countries)windmillwhirligig
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of pinwheel1

First recorded in 1695–1705; pin + wheel
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Example Sentences

This premade Easter basket features a massive range of kid-friendly toys and treats, including caramel popcorn, a Kit Kat bar, Jelly Belly candies, Peeps, several chocolate bunnies, a jump rope, crayons, and pinwheels, bubbles, and two plush toys.

Rhubarb Roulade This powdered sugar-dusted pink-and-white pinwheel is a classically beautiful Gourmet dessert.

Why, he began turning somersaults so fast that he looked just like a pinwheel going around, or an automobile tire whizzing along.

Persis went through the air like a pinwheel, and those who witnessed the affair gave up her and the horse for dead.

A pinwheel had exploded, sending a shower of sparks in every direction.

Just as they entered a pinwheel, lying flat, began to fizz, sending a shower of sparks across the other pieces.

If this is a gesture, all I can say is, it is a pinwheel; and yet Broun writes only about things he knows about.

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pinwalepinwheel escapement