whirr

• whir

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /wɜː/ or IPA^(key): /ʍɜː/ (especially Scottish English)
• (US) enPR: wûr, IPA^(key): /wɝ/ or enPR: hwûr, IPA^(key): /ʍɝ/ (in accents without the wine-whine merger)
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)
• Homophone: were (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

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.

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

whirr (plural whirrs)

1. A sibilant buzz or vibration; the sound of something in rapid motion.
2. A bustle of noise and excitement.

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