The DICT Development Group

  Swirl \Swirl\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Swirled; p. pr. & vb.
     n. Swirling.] [Akin to Norw. svirla to whirl, freq. of
     sverra to whirl, Dan. svirre, G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz.
     [root]177. See Swarm, n.]
     To whirl, or cause to whirl, as in an eddy. "The river
     swirled along." --C. Kingsley.
     [1913 Webster]

  Swirl \Swirl\, n.
     A whirling motion; an eddy, as of water; a whirl. "The silent
     swirl of bats." --Mrs. Browning.
     [1913 Webster]

  swirl
      n 1: the shape of something rotating rapidly [syn: whirl,
           swirl, vortex, convolution]
      v 1: turn in a twisting or spinning motion; "The leaves swirled
           in the autumn wind" [syn: twirl, swirl, twiddle,
           whirl]
      2: flow in a circular current, of liquids [syn: eddy, purl,
         whirlpool, swirl, whirl]

  184 Moby Thesaurus words for "swirl":
     Charybdis, Maelstrom, ado, agitate, agitation, back stream,
     backflow, backwash, backwater, beat, beat up, bluster, bobbery,
     boil, boiling, bother, botheration, brouhaha, burst, bustle,
     centrifugate, centrifuge, churn, churn up, circulate, cirrus, coil,
     commotion, contort, conturbation, convulse, corkscrew,
     countercurrent, counterflow, counterflux, crinkle, curl, curlicue,
     curve, disarrange, discompose, discomposure, disorder, disquiet,
     disquietude, disturb, disturbance, dizzy round, ebullience,
     ebullition, eddy, effervescence, embroilment, evolute, excite,
     excitement, feery-fary, ferment, fermentation, fever, feverishness,
     fidgetiness, fidgets, fit, flap, flurry, fluster, flutter,
     flutteration, flutteriness, foment, fret, fume, furl, fuss,
     fussiness, gulf, gurge, gush, gyrate, gyre, helix, hubbub,
     hullabaloo, hurly-burly, hurry, hurry-scurry, inquietude, intort,
     involute, jitters, jumpiness, kink, maelstrom, malaise, meander,
     moil, nerviness, nervosity, nervousness, paddle, pell-mell,
     perturb, perturbate, perturbation, pirouette, pother, purl,
     rat race, reel, refluence, reflux, regurgitation, restlessness,
     rile, ringlet, ripple, roil, roll, roughen, round, rout, row,
     ruffle, rumple, scallop, scramble, screw, scroll, seethe, seething,
     serpentine, shake, shake up, slink, snake, spasm, spin, spiral,
     spurt, stew, stir, stir up, surge, sweat, swirling, tendril, to-do,
     trepidation, trepidity, trouble, tumult, tumultuation, turbidity,
     turbulence, turmoil, turn, twine, twirl, twist, twist and turn,
     twitter, unease, unquiet, unrest, uproar, upset, volute, volution,
     vortex, wheel, whip, whip up, whirl, whirligig, whirlpool,
     whirlwind, whisk, whorl, wind, work up, worm, wring, yeastiness