thirl
/θɝl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A hole, an aperture, especially a nostril.
noun
A low door in a dry-stone wall to allow sheep to pass through; a smoot.
Example Sentences
- "But yet his hardnesse savde him not against the piercing dart. For hitting right betweene the scales that yeelded in that part Whereas the joynts doe knit the backe, it thirled through the skin, And pierced to his filthy mawe and greedy guts within."
- "And many Authours doe in this manner wound the protection of their cause, by over-rashly running against that which they take hold-of, thirling [translating lanceant] such darts at their enemies, that might with much more advantage be cast at them."
- "Was everyone nowadays thirled to a formula?"
- "And there are plenty of people — Labour politicians, for example — who want people to remain thirled to poverty, who do not want them to have any spirit or independence."
Etymology
From Middle English thirl, thiril, from Old English þyrel (“hole”), from Proto-West Germanic *þurhil, from Proto-Germanic *þurhilą (“hole, opening”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷelo- which is *tr̥h₂kʷe + *-lo, from *terh₂-. Related to thrill, drill. By surface analysis, through + -le.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: thirl, þyrel, *þurhil, *þurhilą, *tr̥h₂kʷelo-, thirlen
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /θɝl/
- British English: /θɜːl/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
thirlable