See Also: whorl(medicine)
whorl(dictionary)
whorl(dictionary)
coccygeal whorl(medicine)
digital whorl(medicine)
spindle and whorl(encyclopedia)
arch-loop-whorl system(medicine)

whorl (iou)



whorl noun & verb. LME.
[App. var. of WHIRL noun, infl. by WHARVE noun and Dutch worvel, wervel.]
A. noun.
A small fly-wheel fixed on the spindle of a spinning-wheel to maintain or regulate the speed; a small pulley by which the spindle is driven in a spinning-machine. LME.
A convolution, a coil; spec. each of the turns or convolutions of a spiral structure, esp. (Zoology) of the shell of a gastropod mollusc. L16.
J. M. Coetzee The hairy whorl of his ear. W. Stegner Currents stirred the pool into whorls.
Botany. A set of leaves, flowers, branches, etc., springing from the axis at the same level and encircling it; a verticil. Also (more fully floral whorl), each of the sets of floral organs (esp. the petals and sepals) arranged concentrically round the receptacle. L17.
b. Zoology. A set of radial or encircling parts or structures. rare. M19.
A complete circle in a fingerprint. L19.
Comb.: whorl-flower a Nepalese plant, sometimes cultivated, Morina longifolia, of the teasel family, having flowers in axillary whorls; whorl-grass (more fully water whorl-grass) the grass Catabrosa aquatica, of north temperate regions, which has the branches of its panicle in whorls.
b.
verb intrans. Form or imitate a whorl; spiral or move in a twisted convoluted fashion, whirl, swirl. Freq. poet. E19.
verb trans. Draw up by means of a whorl or pulley. rare. L19.
verb trans. Arrange in whorls or convolutions. poet. E20.
whorled adjective having or arranged in a whorl or whorls; (of leaves, flowers, etc.) verticillate; (of a shell etc.) convoluted, turbinate; whorled knotgrass: see KNOTGRASS 2: L18.