[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

whirligig \whirl"igig\, n. whirl + gig.
   1913 webster
   1. a child's toy, spun or whirled around like a wheel upon an
      axis, or like a top. --johnson.
      1913 webster

   2. anything which whirls around, or in which persons or
      things are whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden
      horses.
      1913 webster

            with a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning
            about each head.                      --g. w. cable.
      1913 webster

   3. a mediaeval instrument for punishing petty offenders,
      being a kind of wooden cage turning on a pivot, in which
      the offender was whirled round with great velocity.
      1913 webster

   4. zool. any one of numerous species of beetles belonging
      to gyrinus and allied genera. the body is firm, oval or
      boatlike in form, and usually dark colored with a
      bronzelike luster. these beetles live mostly on the
      surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a
      gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able to
      dive and swim rapidly. the larva is aquatic. called also
      weaver, whirlwig, and whirlwig beetle.
      1913 webster
see also:
gyrinus weaver whirlwig whirlwig beetle 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

whirligig
     n 1: a conical child's plaything tapering to a steel point on
          which it can be made to spin; "he got a bright red top
          and string for his birthday" syn: top, teetotum, spinning
          top
     2: large mechanical apparatus with seats for children to ride
        on syn: carousel, carrousel, merry-go-round, roundabout
     v : whirl or spin like a whirligig
see also:
top teetotum spinning top carousel carrousel merry-go-round 
roundabout 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

42 moby thesaurus words for "whirligig":
   april showers, ferris wheel, proteus, carousel, chameleon,
   chute-the-chutes, chutes, cloud shapes, disk, flying horses,
   gyrate, gyre, kaleidoscope, mercury, merry-go-round, moon,
   pirouette, purl, quicksilver, roller, roller coaster,
   rolling stone, rotator, rotor, roundabout, rundle, seesaw,
   shifting sands, swing, teeter-totter, the weather, top, twirl,
   water, weather vane, weathercock, wheel, wheel of fortune, whip,
   whirl, whirlabout, whirler

Whirligig >> W Words
Whirligig, definition of term: Whirligig
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