twirl

Etymology

Of Scandinavian origin, akin to Norwegian Nynorsk tvirla, Old High German dweran (German zwirlen, quirlen) and Icelandic þyrill; all from Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir”). Or, an alteration of tirl (“to twist”), with influence from whirl.

noun

1. A movement where a person spins round elegantly; a pirouette.
2. Any rotating movement; a spin.
   The conductor gave his baton a twirl, and the orchestra began to play.
3. A little twist of some substance; a swirl.
   Place the cream in a piping bag with a fairly large star pipe attached, fill each tartlet with a twirl of cream and top with a strawberry. 1969, The South African Sugar Journal, volume 53, page 51
4. (slang) A prison guard.
   Which was in the main childishness and pettiness, the reason for this was that most of the twirls and the governors had […] 1958, Frank Norman, Bang to rights: an account of prison life, page 67

verb

1. (intransitive) To perform a twirl.
2. (transitive) To rotate rapidly.
   See ruddy maids, / Some taught with dexterous hand to twirl the wheel. 1753, Robert Dodsley, Agriculture
3. (transitive) To twist round.
4. (baseball) To pitch.
   When the batteries were announced, however, and Herb Pennock of the Boston Red Sox, probably the best pitcher in all baseballdom, was named to twirl for the invading team, we felt we had been tricked. 1949, Mark Raymond Murnane, Ground Swells: Of Sailors, Ships, and Shellac, page 302