Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as whirligig, 4.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A whirligig.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A whirligig beetle.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Compare earwig.

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Examples

  • Early in March, before the first male canker-moth appears on the elm-tree, the whirlwig beetles have begun to play round the broken edges of the ice, and the caddis-worms to crawl beneath it; and soon come the water-skater _ (Gerris) _ and the water-boatman _ (Notonecta) _.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 42, April, 1861 Various

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