different between whirl vs endeavour

English

Etymology

From Middle English whirlen, contracted from earlier *whervelen, possibly from Old English *hweorflian, frequentative form of Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), itself from Proto-Germanic *hwerban? (“turn”); or perhaps from Old Norse hvirfla (“to go round, spin”). Cognate with Dutch wervelen (“to whirl, swirl”), German wirbeln (“to whirl, swirl”), Danish hvirvle (“to whirl”), Swedish virvla (older spelling hvirfla), Albanian vorbull (“a whirl”). Related to whirr and wharve.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /w??l/ or IPA^(key): /???l/ (some Welsh and English accents)
• (US) enPR: wûrl, IPA^(key): /w?l/ or enPR: hwûrl, IPA^(key): /??l/
• (Scotland, Ireland) IPA^(key): /???(??)l/

Rhymes: -??(r)l

• Homophone: whorl

Verb

whirl (third-person singular simple present whirls, present participle whirling, simple past and past participle whirled)

1. (intransitive) To rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly.

   • He whirls his sword around without delay.

   • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

     The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

2. (intransitive) To have a sensation of spinning or reeling.

3. (transitive) To make something or someone whirl.

4. (transitive) To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch.
   • The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly.

Translations

Noun

whirl (plural whirls)

1. An act of whirling.

   She gave the top a whirl and it spun across the floor.

2. Something that whirls.
3. A confused tumult.
4. A rapid series of events.

   My life is one social whirl.

5. Dizziness or giddiness.

   My mind was in a whirl.

6. (informal) (usually following “give”) A brief experiment or trial.

   OK, let's give it a whirl.

Derived terms

• awhirl
• whirligig
• whirlpool

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?d?v.?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?d?v.?/
• Rhymes: -?v?(?)

Noun

endeavour (plural endeavours)

1. Britain standard spelling of endeavor.
   • 1748, David Hume, in Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral (London: Oxford University Press, 1973), § 9

     The like has been the endeavour of critics, logicians, and even politicians […] .

   • 1873, J C Maxwell, A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, volume 2, page 184:

     As we shall find it necessary, in our endeavours to bring electrical phenomena within the province of dynamics, to have our dynamical ideas in a state fit for direct application to physical questions we shall devote this chapter to an exposition of these dynamical ideas from a physical point of view.

Verb

endeavour (third-person singular simple present endeavours, present participle endeavouring, simple past and past participle endeavoured)

1. Britain standard spelling of endeavor.
   • 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral (London: Oxford University Press, 1973), § 2:

     The other species of philosophers consider man in the light of a reasonable rather than an active being, and endeavour to form his understanding more than cultivate his manners.

   • November 20, 1777, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Debate in the Lords on the Address of Thanks

     It is our duty […] to endeavour the recovery of these most beneficial subjects.

   • 1669 May 18, Sir Isaac Newton, Letter (to Francis Aston):

     If you be affronted, it is better, in a foreign country, to pass it by in silence, and with a jest, though with some dishonour, than to endeavour revenge; for, in the first case, your credit's ne'er the worse when you return into England, or come into other company that have not heard of the quarrel.