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
Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 11 Dec. 2025
In a town hall moderated by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, airing Saturday, Erika Kirk talked about the rise of political violence and the conspiracy theories that swirled around her husband's death.
—CBS News, 11 Dec. 2025
Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
After the singer introduces the track with a swirl of spacey synths and forlorn vocals, his lament quickly morphs into a different beast as a raucous live orchestra bursts in to crack things wide open.
—Jason Lamphier, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for swirl
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Verb
Rumors began swirling earlier this year that Chalamet might somehow be EsDeeKid, mostly due to the similarities in their eyes.
—Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 11 Dec. 2025
In a town hall moderated by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, airing Saturday, Erika Kirk talked about the rise of political violence and the conspiracy theories that swirled around her husband's death.
—CBS News, 11 Dec. 2025
Noun
Mars' thin atmosphere lowers the threshold for electrical discharge, allowing even small swirls of dust to generate sparks that would never form in Earth's denser air.
—Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
After the singer introduces the track with a swirl of spacey synths and forlorn vocals, his lament quickly morphs into a different beast as a raucous live orchestra bursts in to crack things wide open.
—Jason Lamphier, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Dec. 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 16 Dec. 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share