quirl

I wouldn't be afraid cause I would know that unless the snake is in a quirl, that is, in a pose to bite you, he wouldn't bite you.

Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 2 Work Projects Administration

Befo 'dat, Henry had tol'able good ha'r' roun de aidges, but soon ez de young grapes begun ter come Henry's ha'r begun ter quirl all up in little balls, des like dis yer reg'lar grapy ha'r, en by de time de grapes got ripe his head look des like a bunch er grapes.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue Various

To quirl the yolks run them through the sieve of a patent potato masher.

Vaughan's Vegetable Cook Book (4th edition) How to Cook and Use Rarer Vegetables and Herbs Anonymous

"Guess I'll quirl me a brownie and git into the feathers," glumly.

The Dude Wrangler Caroline Lockhart 1916

Against the walls were fastened several of those magnificent mirrors which testify so loudly to the reasonable price of good glass in that happy land across the seas; each mirror was flanked by two stuffed eagles, and decorated above its centre with one ornate quirl in gilt and stucco.

A Woman's Will Anne Warner 1891

Had I a tail next Monday I would quirl it upon my back and go to the polls and vote the Republican ticket.

Life of the Rev. Elisha W. Green, One of the Founders of the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute--Now the State University at Louisville; Eleven Years Moderator of the Mt. Zion Baptist Association; Five Years Moderator of the Consolidated Baptist Educational Association and Over Thirty Years Pastor of the Colored Baptist Churches of Maysville and Paris. Written by Himself. Elisha Winfield Green 1888

Befo 'dat, Henry had tol'able good ha'r' roun de aidges, but soon ez de young grapes begun ter come Henry's ha'r begun ter quirl all up in little balls, des like dis yer reg'lar grapy ha'r, en by de time de grapes got ripe his head look des like a bunch er grapes.

The Goophered Grapevine 1887

On observing this emblematic nut closely I detect something that may also have a place in your 'parable'; "and she pushed aside the little quirl at the small end of the nut, which partially concealed a worm-hole, and cutting through the shell showed the destroyer in the very heart of the kernel.

Opening a Chestnut Burr Edward Payson Roe 1863