whorl

whorl

a small flywheel on a spindle, as for regulating the speed of a spinning wheel
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

Origin of whorl

Middle English whorwyl, dialect, dialectal variant, variety of wherwille, whirl

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"whorl." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl>.

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whorl. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl

whorl

noun

A form that coils or spirals; a curl or swirl: spread the icing in peaks and whorls.
Botany An arrangement of three or more leaves, petals, or other organs arising from a single node.
Zoology A single turn or volution of a spiral shell.
One of the circular ridges or convolutions of a fingerprint.
a. A small pulley that regulates the speed of the bobbin of a spinning wheel.
b. A small flywheel that regulates the speed of a hand-operated spindle.

Origin of whorl

Middle English whorle alteration of whirle whirl from whirlen to whirl ; see whirl.

whorl

whorls of leaves

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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"whorl." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl>.

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whorl. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl

An arrangement of three or more appendages radiating in a circular or spiral arrangement from a point on a plant, as leaves around the node of a stem. The sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels of angiosperms form four separate whorls within a complete flower.
A single turn of a spiral shell of a mollusk.

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"whorl." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl>.

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whorl. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl

Noun

(plural whorls)

A pattern of concentric circles.
(botany) A circle of three or more leaves, flowers, or other organs, about the same part or joint of a stem.
(zoology) A volution, or turn, of the spire of a univalve shell.
(archaic) A flywheel, a weight attached to a spindle, compare 1460.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present whorls, present participle whorling, simple past and past participle whorled)

(intransitive) To form a pattern of concentric circles.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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"whorl." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl>.

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whorl. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl

whorl - Medical Definition

n.

A form that coils or spirals; a curl or swirl.
A turn of the cochlea or of the ethmoidal crest.
An area of hair growing in a radial manner.
One of the circular ridges or convolutions of a fingerprint.

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MLA Style

"whorl." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl>.

APA Style

whorl. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/whorl

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whorl

whorl

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whorl

whorl

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