different between whoosh vs whirr

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???/, /w??/, /?u??/, /wu??/

  Rhymes: -??, -u??

Noun

whoosh (plural whooshes)

1. A breathy sound like that of an object passing at high speed.

   • The snow burst through the trees with no warning but a last-second whoosh of sound, a two-story wall of white and Chris Rudolph’s piercing cry: “Avalanche! Elyse!”

   • "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." —Douglas Adams

Translations

Verb

whoosh (third-person singular simple present whooshes, present participle whooshing, simple past and past participle whooshed)

1. To make a breathy sound like a whoosh.

Translations

Interjection

whoosh

1. (sarcastic) Indicating that somebody has missed the point (i.e. it went over their head).

English

Alternative forms

• whir

Etymology

From Middle English whirren, probably from Old Norse: compare Danish hvirre, virre, Norwegian kvirre, Old Norse hvirfla (“to whirl, spread”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /w??/ or IPA^(key): /???/ (especially Scottish English)
• (US) enPR: wûr, IPA^(key): /w?/ or enPR: hwûr, IPA^(key): /??/ (in accents without the wine-whine merger)
• Rhymes: -??(r)
• Homophone: were (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Verb

whirr (third-person singular simple present whirrs, present participle whirring, simple past and past participle whirred)

1. To move or vibrate (something) with a buzzing sound.
2. (intransitive) To make a sibilant buzzing or droning sound.
3. (transitive) To cause (something) to make such a sound.

Synonyms

• (make a sibilant buzzing or droning sound): buzz, drone, hum, purr, whine, whistle, whizz
• (cause (something) to make such a sound):

Translations

Noun

whirr (plural whirrs)

1. A sibilant buzz or vibration; the sound of something in rapid motion.
   • 2007, Jeffrey Engel, Sherol Engel, & James A. Swan, Chasing The Hunter's Dream: 1,001 of the World's Best Duck Marshes, Deer Runs, Elk Meadows, Pheasant Fields, Bear Woods, Safaris, and Extraordinary Hunts, HarperCollins (2007), ?ISBN, page 212:

     Then the exploding whirr of wings in the wind — a mixed covey of bobwhites and scalies.

2. A bustle of noise and excitement.

Synonyms

• (sibilant buzz or vibration): buzz, drone, hum, purr, whine, whistle, whizz

• (bustle of noise and excitement): bustle, hustle

Translations