different between twirl vs loophole

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?tw??(?)l/
• Rhymes: -??(r)l

Noun

twirl (plural twirls)

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.
   • 1969, The South African Sugar Journal (volume 53, page 51)

     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.

4. (slang) A prison guard.

   Synonym: screw

   • 1958, Frank Norman, Bang to rights: an account of prison life (page 67)

     Which was in the main childishness and pettiness, the reason for this was that most of the twirls and the governors had […]

Translations

Verb

twirl (third-person singular simple present twirls, present participle twirling, simple past and past participle twirled)

1. (intransitive) To perform a twirl.
2. (transitive) To rotate rapidly.
   • 1753, Robert Dodsley, Agriculture

     See ruddy maids, / Some taught with dexterous hand to twirl the wheel.
3. (transitive) To twist round.
4. (baseball) To pitch.
   • 1949, Mark Raymond Murnane, Ground Swells: Of Sailors, Ships, and Shellac (page 302)

     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.

Derived terms

• twirl one's moustache

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From Middle English loupe (“opening in a wall”) +? hole, from a Germanic source. Compare Medieval Latin loupa, lobia and Middle Dutch lupen (“to watch”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?lu?ph??l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?lupho?l/
• Hyphenation: loop?hole

Noun

loophole (plural loopholes)

1. (historical) A slit in a castle wall; today, any similar window for shooting a ranged weapon or letting in light.
   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:

     ... and having a fair loophole, as it were, from a broken hole in the tree, he took a sure aim, without being seen, waiting till they were within about thirty yards of the tree, so that he could not miss.

   • 1809, Maria Edgeworth, The Absentee:

     There was a loophole in this wall, to let the light in, just at the height of a person's head, who was sitting near the chimney.
2. (figuratively) A method of escape, especially an ambiguity or exception in a rule or law that can be exploited in order to avoid its effect.

Derived terms

• lo mein loophole

Translations

Verb

loophole (third-person singular simple present loopholes, present participle loopholing, simple past and past participle loopholed)

1. (military, transitive) To prepare a building for defense by preparing slits or holes through which to fire on attackers
2. (transitive) To exploit (a law, etc.) by means of loopholes.
   • 2005, Deborah Rhode, David Luban, Legal Ethics Stories

     De-moralizing the subject can be, quite simply, demoralizing, as stirring statements of ideals turn into persnickety rules with exceptions crying out to be loopholed.

Further reading

• loophole on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• loophole (firearm) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References