/
wɔːl,
wəːl/
n.
- Zoology each of the convolutions in the shell of a gastropod or ammonoid mollusc.
- Botany a set of leaves, flowers, or branches springing from the stem at the same level and encircling it.
▸(in a flower) each of the sets of organs, especially the petals and sepals, arranged concentrically round the receptacle.
- a complete circle in a fingerprint.
- chiefly historical a small wheel or pulley in a spinning wheel, spinning machine, or spindle.
v.
literary spiral or move in a twisted or convoluted fashion.
Derivative
Etymology
ME (denoting a small flywheel): appar. a var. of whirl, influenced by OE wharve ‘whorl of a spindle’.
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