whirligig

[ hwur-li-gig, wur- ]

/ ˈʰwɜr lɪˌgɪg, ˈwɜr- /

something that whirls or revolves.

a whirling motion or course: the whirligig of fashion.

a giddy or flighty person.

Dialect. a merry-go-round or carrousel.

a toy for whirling or spinning, as a top.

Origin of whirligig

First recorded in 1400–50, whirligig is from the late Middle English word whirlegigge. See whirl, gig¹

It is so dark I can't tell which way she is swinging till she is coming around like a whirligig.'

Life On The Mississippi, Complete |Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
And thus and thus it goes, with the whirligig of Sunday newspaper criticism spinning out the tastes of the reading public.

Literature for Children |Orton Lowe
Then the exciting and dangerous "whirligig" would be suffered to possess its moment of notice.

The Pioneers |James Fenimore Cooper
She set it down and stooped forward, turning the bowl as if it were a whirligig.

A Treasury of Eskimo Tales |Clara Kern Bayliss

Truly the whirligig of time brings in some strange revenges.

Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie |Andrew Carnegie

whirligig

/ (ˈwɜːlɪˌɡɪɡ) /

any spinning toy, such as a top

another name for merry-go-round

anything that whirls about, spins, or moves in a circular or giddy way the whirligig of social life

another name for windmill (def. 3)

C15: whirlegigge, from whirl + gig 1