whirligig

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English

WOTD – 10 July 2008
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Whirligig, kinetic art
Public library, O'Fallon, Illinois

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English whirlegigge; equivalent to whirl (noun or verb) +‎ gig (“a top”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈwɜː.lɪ.ɡɪɡ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈwɝ.lɪ.ɡɪɡ/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

whirligig (plural whirligigs)

  1. Anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy top or a merry-go-round.
    • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 275, columns 1–2:
      Why ſome are borne great, ſome atchieue greatneſſe, and ſome haue greatneſſe throwne vpon them. I was one ſir, in this Enterlude, one ſir Topas ſir, but that’s all one: By the Lo[r]d Foole, I am not mad: but do you remember, Madam, why laugh you at ſuch a barren raſcall, and you ſmile not he’s gag’d: and thus the whirlegigge of time, brings in his reuenges.
  2. A device incorporating spinning, wind-driven propellers or pinwheels, used as whimsical outdoor decoration in a garden or on a porch.
  3. A whirligig beetle.
  4. (historical) A device for punishing prisoners, comprising a wooden cage that rapidly spins around to induce nausea.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia