pirouette

Etymology

Borrowed from French pirouette, see there for more; attested since 1706.

noun

1. A whirling or turning on the toes in dancing, primarily in ballet.
2. The whirling about of a horse.

verb

1. (intransitive) To perform a pirouette; to whirl on the toes, like a dancer.
   I came down like a sack of coals. The pulse was rapid, the blood pressure high, and for awhile the Blue Room pirouetted about me like an adagio dancer. 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VIII