swirled; swirling; swirls
1
a
: to move with an eddying or whirling motion
swirling water
b
: to pass in whirling confusion
2
: to have a twist or convolution
: to cause to swirl
swirled her drink
Examples of swirl in a Sentence
Verb
The water swirled around the drain.
kept swirling her lemonade until the ice had melted and it was completely watered down
Noun
A swirl of smoke rose from the chimney.
He painted swirls of color on the canvas.
ice cream with chocolate swirls
Recent Examples on the Web
Tejasri Gururaj, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2025
If conditions are right, the clusters swirl into a storm known as a tropical wave or tropical depression.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
Andrea Onate, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2025
Agencies are a swirl of things becoming better things.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 21 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for swirl
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Verb
The sudden contractions between main channels and auxiliary pathways create local velocity increases and swirling patterns that actively pull water out of the gas diffusion layer while simultaneously drawing fresh oxygen toward the catalyst sites, acting like miniature vacuum pumps.
—Tejasri Gururaj, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2025
If conditions are right, the clusters swirl into a storm known as a tropical wave or tropical depression.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
Noun
Kosheleva made checkerboard squares, an ornate eye, intricate swirls and flowers coexist within the trench.
—Andrea Onate, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2025
Agencies are a swirl of things becoming better things.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 21 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for swirl
Cite this Entry
“Swirl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swirl. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
swirl
1 of 2 noun1
: a whirling mass or motion : eddy
2
: whirling confusion
lost in the swirl of events
3
: a twisting shape, mark, or pattern
swirl
2 of 2 verb1
: to move with or pass in a swirl
2
: to be marked with or arranged in swirls
3
: to cause to swirl
swirlingly
adverb
ˈswər-liŋ-lē
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