whorl

[ wawrl, wurl, hwawrl, hwurl ]

noun

1. a circular arrangement of like parts, as leaves or flowers, around a point on an axis; verticil.
2. one of the turns or volutions of a spiral shell.
3. anything shaped like a coil.
4. one of the central ridges of a fingerprint, forming at least one complete circle.
5. Textiles. a flywheel or pulley, as for a spindle.

whorl

/ wɜːl /

noun

1. botany a radial arrangement of three or more petals, stamens, leaves, etc, around a stem
2. zoology a single turn in a spiral shell
3. one of the basic patterns of the human fingerprint, formed by several complete circular ridges one inside another Compare arch 1 loop 1
4. anything shaped like a coil

whorl

/ hwôrl,wôrl,hwûrl,wûrl /

1. An arrangement of three or more appendages radiating in a circular or spiral arrangement from a point on a plant, as leaves around the node of a stem. The sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels of angiosperms form four separate whorls within a complete flower.
2. A single turn of a spiral shell of a mollusk.

Derived Forms

• whorled, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of whorl¹

1425–75; late Middle English whorle, whorvil, wharwyl, Old English hwyrfel, equivalent to hweorfa whorl of a spindle + -el noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of whorl¹

C15: probably variant of wherville whirl , influenced by Dutch worvel

Example Sentences

“My insides were set abuzz. My lungs contracted like they’d just hit cold water; my jaw compacted into itself; every muscle in my pelvis … felt as though it had been turned to wood. Somewhere inside my brain every synapse fired, and I was thrust into a whorl of anxiety: go, go, go.”

From Los Angeles Times

It beats staring into the whorl of a spiral-cut ham and wondering how things might have been different.

From New York Times

It beats staring into the whorl of a spiral-cut ham and wondering how things might have been different.

From New York Times

Several independent groups have now reported the oddly sluggish orbits of stars along the Milky Way’s outer rim, the peripheral edge of our galaxy’s luminous whorl.

From Scientific American

Researchers usually say “vapor rings” or “vortex rings” when describing the whorl of a ring’s gas.

From New York Times