noun

1. a small flywheel on a spindle, as for regulating the speed of a spinning wheel
2. anything with a coiled or spiral appearance; specif.,
   1. any of the circular ridges that form the design of a fingerprint
   2. Bot. a circular growth of leaves, petals, etc. about the same point on a stem
   3. Zool. any of the turns in a spiral shell

Etymology: ME whorwyl, dial. var. of wherwille, whirl