Whirligig \Whirl"i*gig\, n. [Whirl + gig.]
1. A child's toy, spun or whirled around like a wheel upon an
axis, or like a top. --Johnson.
2. Anything which whirls around, or in which persons or
things are whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden
horses.
With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning
about each head. --G. W. Cable.
3. A medi[ae]val instrument for punishing petty offenders,
being a kind of wooden cage turning on a pivot, in which
the offender was whirled round with great velocity.
4. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of beetles
belonging to Gyrinus and allied genera. The body is
firm, oval or boatlike in form, and usually dark colored
with a bronzelike luster. These beetles live mostly on the
surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a
gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able to
dive and swim rapidly. The larva is aquatic. Called also
weaver, whirlwig, and whirlwig beetle.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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