Definition of "whirr"

whirr

/wɜː/

verb
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.
  Quotations
  In a city where media companies and hospitals have armed guards, this accessibility is unusual. Inside, drivers sit and chat in between shifts, the overhead fan whirring and causing the dim electric light to flicker over their faces.
  2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian‎
3. (transitive) To cause (something) to make such a sound.
4. (intransitive) (of a panther) To make a vibrating sound in its throat when contented, much like the domestic cat’s purr.
noun
plural whirrs
1. A sibilant buzz or vibration; the sound of something in rapid motion.
  Quotations
  At that moment a flight of birds passed close overhead, and at the whirr of their wings a panic fear seized her.
  1978, Lawrence Durrell, “Lord Galen’s Farewell”, in Livia: Or Buried Alive […] (The Avignon Quintet; 2), London, Boston, Mass.: Faber and Faber, page 239
  Then the exploding whirr of wings in the wind — a mixed covey of bobwhites and scalies.
  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, published 2007, page 212
2. A bustle of noise and excitement.
3. The vibrating sound made by a panther in its throat when contented.

Definition of "whirr"

whirr

verb

Quotations

noun

Quotations