I. swirl 1 /swɜːl $ swɜːrl/ BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to move around quickly in a twisting circular movement, or to make something do this
swirl around/round
Smoke swirled around her.
swirl something around/round
He swirled the brandy around in his glass.
The river had become a swirling torrent.
2 . [intransitive] if stories or ideas swirl around a place, a lot of people start to talk about them – used especially in news reports SYN circulate
swirl around
Rumours of a takeover began to swirl around the stock markets.
II. swirl 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: Probably from the sound of water going around ]
1 . a swirling movement or amount of something
swirl of
a swirl of dust
2 . a twisting circular pattern