whirrとは 意味・読み方・使い方

別の表記

• whir

語源

From 中期英語 whirren, probably from Old Norse: compare Danish hvirre, virre, Norwegian kvirre, Old Norse hvirfla (“to whirl, spread”).

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /wɜː/
• (米国発音) IPA: /wɝ/
• (Scotland) IPA: /ʍɪr/
• (New Zealand) IPA: /wøː/
• (Liverpool, fair–fur merger) IPA: /weː/
• (Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger) IPA: /wɛː/
• (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA: /wɜː(ɹ)/
• 韻: -ɜː(ɹ)
• 異形同音異義語: were (fern–fir–fur merger), where (fair–fur merger), ware (fair–fur merger, wine–whine merger)

動詞

whirr (third-person singular simple present whirrs, present participle whirring, simple past and past participle whirred)

1. To move or vibrate (something) with a buzzing sound.
2. (intransitive) To make a sibilant buzzing or droning sound.
   • 2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian‎:

     In a city where media companies and hospitals have armed guards, this accessibility is unusual. Inside, drivers sit and chat in between shifts, the overhead fan whirring and causing the dim electric light to flicker over their faces.

3. (transitive) To cause (something) to make such a sound.
4. (intransitive) (of a panther) To make a vibrating sound in its throat when contented, much like the domestic cat’s purr.

同意語

• (make a sibilant buzzing or droning sound): buzz, drone, hum, purr, whine, whistle, whizz

名詞

whirr (plural whirrs)

1. A sibilant buzz or vibration; the sound of something in rapid motion.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, “Lord Galen’s Farewell”, in Livia: Or Buried Alive […] (The Avignon Quintet; 2), London, Boston, Mass.: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 239:

     At that moment a flight of birds passed close overhead, and at the whirr of their wings a panic fear seized her.

   • 2007, Jeffrey Engel, Sherol Engel, & James A. Swan, Chasing The Hunter's Dream: 1,001 of the World's Best Duck Marshes, Deer Runs, Elk Meadows, Pheasant Fields, Bear Woods, Safaris, and Extraordinary Hunts, HarperCollins, published 2007, →ISBN, page 212:

     Then the exploding whirr of wings in the wind — a mixed covey of bobwhites and scalies.

2. A bustle of noise and excitement.
3. The vibrating sound made by a panther in its throat when contented.

同意語

• (sibilant buzz or vibration): buzz, drone, hum, purr, whine, whistle, whizz
• (bustle of noise and excitement): bustle, hustle