quirl
UK/kwɜːl//kwɝl/
quirl verb: to curl or twirl, or twist or coil (up).
Verb
quirl (third-person singular simple present quirls, present participle quirling, simple past and past participle quirled)
- To curl or twirl, or twist or coil (up).
- Ephraim clapped his hand to his side, and rolled his eyes agonizingly towards his mother, but she took no notice. She got some paper out of the cupboard, and Ephraim sat down and began quirling it into long spirals with a wretched sulky air.1894, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, Pembroke: A Novel, page 215
Forms of quirl
| third-person singular present | quirls |
|---|---|
| present participle | quirling |
| past participle | quirled |
| past | quirled |
Origin of quirl
Attested since the 18th century. Considered by other dictionaries to be related to curl. Compare German Quirl, said to be related to twirl.
Words formed from quirl
Words that rhyme with quirl
Questions about quirl
- What does quirl mean?
- Quirl means to curl or twirl, or twist or coil (up).
- What part of speech is quirl?
- Quirl is a verb.
- How do you pronounce quirl?
- Quirl is pronounced /kwɝl/ (US).
- What is the past tense of quirl?
- The past tense of quirl is quirled.
Words near quirl in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: quirl (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Knabrupt-quirl.wav.
Cite this entry: “quirl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quirl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.