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
Julia Gomez, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
Nicole Kidman filing for divorce from Keith Urban sent shockwaves among fans, and now there are rumors swirling there may be a new woman in the country star’s life.
—Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2025
Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
Azoulay updated Compton, a maximalist swirl of florals, with a midnight black backdrop, while Pierce & Ward scaled down the same pattern and punctuated its inky lines with a soft oatmeal ground to create Compton Parvum.
—Sydney Gore, Architectural Digest, 29 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for swirl
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Verb
If conditions are right, the clusters swirl into a storm known as a tropical wave or tropical depression.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
Nicole Kidman filing for divorce from Keith Urban sent shockwaves among fans, and now there are rumors swirling there may be a new woman in the country star’s life.
—Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2025
Noun
No photograph could catch the smell drifting from the nearby military barracks and Indian camps; capture the murmured swirl of French, English, Arapaho, and Lakota; or let a viewer feel the colliding anxieties and expectations that hung heavy over negotiations like this.
—Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
Azoulay updated Compton, a maximalist swirl of florals, with a midnight black backdrop, while Pierce & Ward scaled down the same pattern and punctuated its inky lines with a soft oatmeal ground to create Compton Parvum.
—Sydney Gore, Architectural Digest, 29 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 5 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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