pinwheel
/ˈpɪnˌwiːl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.29 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A toy for children, comprising an artificial (usually plastic) stem and a flower that spins round in the wind like a tiny windmill.
noun
A pastry made by laying out dough flat, smearing a topping over it and rolling it up into a spiral, then baking it, resulting in a swirl of filling.
noun
Any food product consisting of layers (for example of pastry and sweet filling, or of bread and meat) rolled into a spiral.
verb
To spin.
Example Sentences
- "The sun blazing late in the afternoon, this long hilarious day like a pinwheel inexhaustibly throwing off sparks."
- "The damaged fighter jet pinwheeled out of control, the g-forces pushing the pilot so hard he couldn't reach the ejection switch."
- "Uncertainly, he stepped back, bumping into the short skirt of the seawall. He stumbled and pinwheeled his arms for balance."
- "The laws of physics and chemistry transform a meadow of fine powder into a wreckage of icy chunks. Saugstad’s pinwheeling body would freeze into whatever position it was in the moment the snow stopped."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *pinnaz Proto-West Germanic *pinn Old English pinn Middle English pinne English pin Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-redup. Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *kʷekʷléh₂ Proto-Germanic *hweulō Old English hwēol Middle English whel English wheel English pinwheel From pin + wheel.