Meaning & use

whorl

noun·Advanced

Last updated

A spiral or coiled shape, such as a ring of leaves around a stem or a pattern in a fingerprint.

See it in a sentence

Investigators examined the whorl pattern of the fingerprint left on the glass.

The botanist pointed out the whorl of narrow leaves circling the stem.

A note on using this word

Used in botany for leaf arrangements, in shell and fingerprint patterns, and in general to describe anything arranged in a coiled ring.

Words with a similar meaning

spiralcoil

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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