pinwheel

verb

pinwheeled; pinwheeling; pinwheels

intransitive verb

: to move like a pinwheel

Synonyms of pinwheel

• rotate
• revolve
• spin
• twirl

Examples of pinwheel in a Sentence

the kayaker had got sucked into the whirlpool, and his kayak was pinwheeling helplessly

Recent Examples on the Web

The free arrows pinwheel around more, stabilizing the magnetic order in the up-down arrows. —Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 16 Jan. 2025

Forecasters warned of the arrival Thursday into Friday of a second intensifying low pressure area, which will pinwheel around the first bomb cyclone in an atmospheric interaction known as the Fujiwara Effect. —Andrew Freedman, Axios, 18 Nov. 2024

Some of the outer rain bands and a few storms from Beta will pinwheel into the area from the east and southeast. —Dallas News, 20 Sep. 2020

The man in the white vest pinwheeled his arms, ushering volunteers through the pick-up line outside the Salvation Army Community Center on Fourth Street with military precision. —Lizzie Johnson, SFChronicle.com, 25 Dec. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pinwheel

• abele
• alkyl
• anneal
• appeal
• cartwheel
• conceal
• congeal
• coquille
• corneal
• cornmeal
• flywheel
• genteel

Kids Definition

pinwheel

noun

pin·​wheel

-ˌhwēl

1

: a fireworks device in the form of a spinning wheel of colored fire

2

: a toy made of fanlike blades that spin in the wind at the end of a stick