Webster's English Dictionary

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whorl

whorl \'hwo.r(*)l, 'wo.r(*)l, '(h)w*r(-*)l\ n [ME wharle, whorle, prob. 
   alter. of whirle, fr. whirlen] to whirl 1: a drum-shaped section on the 
   lower part of a spindle in spinning or weav ing machinery serving as a 
   pulley for the tape drive that rotates the spindle 2: an arrangement of 
   similar anatomical parts (as leaves) in a circle aroun d a point on an axis 
   3: something that whirls, coils, or spirals or whose form suggests such mov 
   ement 4: one of the turns of a univalve shell  5: a fingerprint in which 
   the central papillary ridges turn through at leas t one complete circle