whirring

whir

(wûr, hwûr)

v. whirred, whir·ring, whirs

v.intr.

To produce a vibrating or buzzing sound or move while making such a sound: The fan whirred in the window. A bee whirred past my ear.

v.tr.

To cause to make or move with such a sound: "She whirred the wheel of the sewing-machine round and round" (Virginia Woolf).

A sound of buzzing or vibration: the whir of turning wheels.

[Middle English whirren, probably of Scandinavian origin.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

whirring

(ˈwɜːrɪŋ)

a prolonged soft swish or buzz, as of a motor working or wings flapping

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	whirring - sound of something in rapid motion; "whir of a bird's wings"; "the whir of the propellers" whir, whirr, birr sound - the sudden occurrence of an audible event; "the sound awakened them"
Adj.	1.	whirring - like the sound of rapidly vibrating wings noisy - full of or characterized by loud and nonmusical sounds; "a noisy cafeteria"; "a small noisy dog"

Translations

sifflement

whirring

[ˈ^hwɜːrɪŋ] n → vrombissement m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

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References in classic literature ?

The willow-wren with his army also came flying through the air with such a humming, and whirring, and swarming that every one was uneasy and afraid, and on both sides they advanced against each other.

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Presently, however, there came to my ears the whirring of the propellers of a flier, and as each moment the sound grew fainter I realized that the party had proceeded toward the south without assuring themselves as to my fate.

Presently I heard the diminishing sound of whirring propellers and realized that again I was safe.

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You have heard grasshoppers whirring in the grass in the summer time?

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It was the whirring and thumping of gigantic machinery, complica- tions among the smaller stars.

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He seemed to hear again around him the legions of whirring wings to which he had been so lately accustomed.

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your house just went down 75% in value," he added, gyrating his arm in the air and imitating a whirring noise.

Trump's bizarre cancer claim surely a wind-up

Mr Allen, 78, has complained to East Riding Council about the whirring and they fitted a listening device, which picked up no noise,HullLive reports.

Man driven 'crackers' by noise from neighbours - which no one else can hear; Neighbours are embroiled in a dispute over the mystery nighttime racket

This I found very difficult to switch off from, because her mind and everything in her life and this character in this film at this time is so active, and it's whirring and I really don't feel like I switched off at all until I shot the last frame" Actress Ruth Bradley on playing Agatha Christie in a new period drama "As a lifelong tubby person who had the brass neck to end up on the television, I can confirm that Nigella Lawson is right.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

There was no whirring sound from my fridge, the background noise to my home life.

I live alone and was not expecting a samba parade

Cheryl & Liam Celebrity romances keep the showbiz wheels whirring - yet there hasn't been such a stir in yonks like the one around Cheryl and Liam.

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Problem was she now can't sleep for hearing his old Scalextric race cars whirring round all night.