To save this word, you'll need to log in.
\ ˈhwər 
, ˈwər\
, ˈwər\variants:
or less commonly whirr
whirred; whirring
Definition of whir
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to fly, revolve, or move rapidly with a whir
hummingbirds whirring past
: to move or carry rapidly with a whir
whir
nounvariants:
or less commonly whirr
Definition of whir (Entry 2 of 2)
: a continuous fluttering or vibratory sound made by something in rapid motion
the whir of machinery
Keep scrolling for more
Examples of whir in a Sentence
Verb
the hummingbird whirred as it hovered over a flower
our tires whirred as we traveled over the rough road Noun
the whir of a fan
a whir coming from the refrigerator
See More
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Instead, tens of thousands of whirring GPUs perform the complex, exhaustive calculations needed to verify cryptocurrency transactions and add them to the public record, otherwise known as the blockchain.
—
Wired, "Inside the Icelandic Facility Where Bitcoin Is Mined," 3 Nov. 2019 Machines whirred in his room, pumping air into his lungs.
—
Caroline Chen, ProPublica, "“It’s Very Unethical”: Audio Shows Hospital Kept Vegetative Patient on Life Support to Boost Survival Rates," 3 Oct. 2019 Now, with the impeachment machinery whirring again, Watergate is sure to permeate our thought even more.
—
David Greenberg, Washington Post, "Two accounts of Watergate remind readers: No one knew how it would end," 15 Nov. 2019 Four additional rotors whir at the ends of outriggers, for a total of 10 rotors (five counter-rotating to cancel out the twisting effects from the motors).
—
Dan Neil, WSJ, "The First Flying-Car Review," 12 Sep. 2018 At the border between indoor space and the outdoor yard in the zoo’s Eastern black rhinoceros exhibit, a hydraulic door whirred.
—
Steve Johnson, chicagotribune.com, "Rhino Watch ’19: New baby rhinoceros a reluctant star at Lincoln Park Zoo," 18 June 2019 Large swaths of trees wouldn’t need to be cut, whirring metal machines wouldn’t need to be brought in, and pesticides that could threaten people, animals, and plants in the region wouldn’t need to be used.
—
Jill Langlois, The New Republic, "The Small Business Solution to Saving the Amazon," 22 Aug. 2019 Trump abuses his power in ways that must have the founders whirring like turbines in their graves.
—
Eugene Robinson, The Mercury News, "Robinson: More impeachment investigation? How much do we need?," 13 Sep. 2019 As the photographer’s shutter whirred, JuJu invested fully, grimacing and twisting his controller to avoid an imaginary digital death, the plug of the device flopping on the floor.
—
Michael Mcknight, SI.com, "Much Ado About JuJu," 4 Sep. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The whir of activity comes not from conditions in the world but from the ceaseless mechanism by which unpleasantness can be laundered and made fathomable, even manageable.
—
Nathaniel Friedman, The New Republic, "Moments Without Truth," 21 Oct. 2019 Restaurant noise routinely climbs into the high 70-decibel range (the whir of a canister vacuum) and sometimes hits the mid-80s (the roar of a nearby diesel truck).
—
Joyce Cohen, Washington Post, "For those with hearing impairments, restaurant noise isn’t just an irritation. It’s discrimination.," 17 June 2019 Restaurant noise routinely climbs into the high 70-decibel range (the whir of a canister vacuum) and sometimes hits the mid-80s (the roar of a nearby diesel truck).
—
Joyce Cohen, Washington Post, "For those with hearing impairments, restaurant noise isn’t just an irritation. It’s discrimination.," 17 June 2019 But a new, exhaustive boxed set transports listeners to the real, unedited Woodstock: every blaring stage announcement about the dangers of brown acid, peal of stage feedback and whir of helicopter blades restored.
—
Morgan Enos, Billboard, "10 Must-Hear Tracks From the Massive New Woodstock Anniversary Box Set," 2 Aug. 2019 Six weeks before debut, maintenance workers painted drywall and swept floors over the whir of industrial fans.
—
Phillip Valys, sun-sentinel.com, "A sneak peek at Fort Lauderdale’s first food hall," 15 Aug. 2019 After posing for photographs in a crush of international journalists, the two men walked back to the South Korean side amid a whir of cameras and had a bilateral meeting that lasted about an hour in Freedom House.
—
Yonette Joseph, BostonGlobe.com, "4 takeaways from the Trump-Kim meeting at the DMZ," 30 June 2019 The music is visceral, the high-pitch whir of the lira flutes like a snake worming its way through my earholes and taking hold of my brain stem.
—
National Geographic, "Music in Morocco: The ultimate sonic journey," 23 July 2019 The unmistakable whir of a Formula E car is one of the most distinctive sounds in sport.
—
CBS News, "Inside Formula E, the electric car league vying to become the future of auto racing," 13 July 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whir.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for whir
whir
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of whir
: the sound made by something that is spinning very fast
See the full definition for whir in the English Language Learners Dictionary
whir
verb\ ˈhwər , ˈwər\
, ˈwər\whirred; whirring
Kids Definition of whir
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to fly, operate, or turn rapidly with a buzzing sound
… the machines stopped whirring, and from then on, not a single chocolate … was made.— Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
whir
nounKids Definition of whir (Entry 2 of 2)
: a buzzing sound made by something spinning or operating quickly
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on whir
What made you want to look up whir? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Semantic Drift Quiz
- Which of the following was once a synonym for fun?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
Share whir
Time Traveler for whir
The first known use of whir was in the 15th century
See more words from the same century