whirligig

n. top; merry-go-round; repeating cycle or circle

A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member that spins or whirls. The word, derived from the verb to whirl, is known in English since 1440, originally for various spinning toys.Since ancient times, a whirligig was a spinning punitive or torture contraption comprising a suspended cage-like device; see Whirligig (torture).
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Noun
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"
(synonym) top, teetotum, spinning top
(hypernym) plaything, toy
(hyponym) humming top
2. large mechanical apparatus with seats for children to ride on
(synonym) carousel, carrousel, merry-go-round, roundabout
(hypernym) ride
Verb
1. whirl or spin like a whirligig
(hypernym) spin, spin around, whirl, reel, gyrate
(derivation) top, teetotum, spinning top

(n.)
Anything which whirls around, or in which persons or things are whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden horses.
  

(n.)
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.
  

(n.)
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.
  

(n.)
A child's toy, spun or whirled around like a wheel upon an axis, or like a top.
  

Synonyms and related words:
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