pinwheels

Noun

pinwheel (plural pinwheels)

1. A cogged (toothed) gear.
2. A toy for children, comprising an artificial (usually plastic) stem and a flower that spins round in the wind like a tiny windmill.
3. (Canada, US, pyrotechnics) A firework that spins in the shape of a spinning wheel.
   • The sun blazing late in the afternoon, this long hilarious day like a pinwheel inexhaustibly throwing off sparks.1992, Joyce Carol Oates, Black Water, paperback edition, Penguin Books, page 125

   Synonyms:

   Catherine wheel

4. A pastry made by laying out dough flat, smearing a topping over it and rolling it up into a spiral, then baking it, resulting in a swirl of filling.
5. Any food product consisting of layers (for example of pastry and sweet filling, or of bread and meat) rolled into a spiral.

   Synonyms:

   roll, rollup, swirl

See all 6 meanings of pinwheel