From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishswirlswirl1 /swɜːl $ swɜːrl/ ●○○ verb 1 TURN[intransitive, transitive] to move around quickly in a twisting circular movement, or to make something do thisswirl around/round Smoke swirled around her.swirl something around/round He swirled the brandy around in his glass. The river had become a swirling torrent.2 [intransitive] if stories or ideas swirl around a place, a lot of people start to talk about them – used especially in news reports SYN circulateswirl around Rumours of a takeover began to swirl around the stock markets.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
swirl• Reports that the company is in trouble continue to swirl.• As the submersible glides over them, clouds of orange dust rise, swirl about, and slowly drift back down.• The three ships swirled around my ship, neatly bracketing it as they matched its speed.• The wind swirling around the tree had blown all the snow away from its trunk.• Swirl butter into the sauce.• The traffic swirled by on the splashing road.• The ice cubes swirled down the drain.• George said something perfectly right about the wine, swirling it in the high-stemmed tulip glass.• She toyed with it with her fork, pushing it slowly around the plate, swirling it into patterns.• Dust swirled like smoke in the evening sunshine.• Robert was duly acquitted, but the mystery swirled on.• Smoke swirled out of the grass next to the first few Hueys.• Jessie's pale dress swirled round her slender ankles.• Add a dot of cream to each, then swirl with a knife to create a pattern.swirl around/round• Splintered wood and shoes swirling round and round.• Greeny-brown water swirled round and through gaps in the wood, which was broken and jagged like rotten teeth.• Above the Falls, for almost a mile, the river raged and swirled around Goat Island.• Sensual pleasure had been swirling around her.• Snowflakes swirl around in front of my window, and slowly, imperceptibly, they mat down the leaves and the grass.• The starlings were disturbed, swirling around in S-shapes and parabolas and unexpected clusters.• They were aimless places that swirled around the cramped rooms where he always ended up.• They kept quite still, although all the commotion of the station swirled around them.swirlswirl2 noun [countable] 1 TURNa swirling movement or amount of somethingswirl of a swirl of dust2 AVDa twisting circular patternExamples from the Corpus
swirl• To follow Bavarian creams and chocolate chestnut swirl.• The wind had strengthened, and there was more rain too, blowing in swirls.• They're inconsequential swirls, all wah wah pedal and no tune.• Pipe the chocolate into swirls over the chocolate-coated truffles.• Leaving behind the familiar phrasings, Coltrane began to produce swirls of sound and visceral shrieks that puzzled and angered music critics.• The sky hung low, a cloudy canvas with swirls of dark purple and stormy greys.swirl of• a swirl of dust• The sheets were covered in bright swirls of color.Origin swirl2 (1400-1500) Probably from the sound of water going around 