How to Use whir in a Sentence

whir

1 of 2 verb
  • Then whir that with ice in a blender.
    — Scott Hocker, TheWeek, 10 June 2026
  • The machines whizzed and whirred.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Expect the line blender to keep whirring as the series goes on.
    — Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 23 May 2026
  • Huge fans whir on the ceiling and smaller ones are clamped to each rack.
    — Lina Zeldovich, Popular Mechanics, 2 June 2016
  • Try whirring your greens up with some frozen berries and almond or coconut milk.
    — Cindy Sutter, The Denver Post, 1 Mar. 2017
  • For an hour each day, air conditioners and fans whir to a stop.
    — Heba Farouk Mahfouz, Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2023
  • Allow to freeze until solid, then whir the cubes in a blender.
    — Outside Online, 22 Aug. 2018
  • Tires whirred across the courts as players volley the tennis ball across the net.
    — Patricia Dillon, Houston Chronicle, 27 Jan. 2018
  • In an ambulance, Dunn's mind was whirring.
    — Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025
  • The partnership has helped keep its sewing machines whirring.
    — Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Carnage's bassy beat growls and whirs under screeching sirens.
    — Kat Bein, Billboard, 18 Jan. 2018
  • Trump abuses his power in ways that must have the founders whirring like turbines in their graves.
    — Eugene Robinson, The Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2019
  • The shutters are opened up to let in the air, fans start whirring and a dancer takes a break to dab her forehead.
    — Kate Siber, USA TODAY, 25 Sep. 2017
  • That chunk of my brain has already been activated and is whirring away.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 11 Jan. 2026
  • The sound of a helicopter constantly whirred in my ears and tear gas burned in my throat.
    — Wes Gobar, Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2017
  • Traffic hummed along the avenue, and machinery whirred at the tire shop.
    — Thomas Lake, AJC.com, 12 Mar. 2026
  • But the reason the machine can whir away in her lab has less to do with science than with softball.
    — Eliza Fawcett, chicagotribune.com, 5 July 2019
  • At around 80 mph, though, noise from the motors can whir its way into the cabin.
    — Jonathon Ramsey, Car and Driver, 21 June 2022
  • But the softly whirring rig wasn’t searching for fossil fuels.
    — Brad Plumer, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023
  • Females arrive, and the air gets thick with whirring dragonflies.
    — Sandhya Sekar, National Geographic, 1 May 2017
  • Fans whirred in all the rooms and often the sound of the air moving was the only sound Lucy heard.
    — Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
  • There are no air conditioners whirring behind the walls.
    — Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026
  • Some make a steady clicking or whirring sound, which can be annoying — most often to the adults in the house.
    — Jessica Hartshorn, goodhousekeeping.com, 4 Apr. 2023
  • The machine whirs to life, the smell of hot plastic slowly seeping into the air.
    — Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2026
  • Norway brought two, often whirring away in the basement of a nearby hotel.
    — Author: David Segal, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Feb. 2018
  • What was he supposed to do with a whirring hunk of plastic that kids on social media were obsessed with?
    — Sonia Rao, Kansas City Star, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Beat the egg with the ice water and pour it into the bowl in three additions, whirring after each one.
    — Dorrie Greenspan, The Denver Post, 18 Apr. 2017
  • But the train whirred, caught and deposited us at the preceding station.
    — Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2020
  • Small groups of neighbors gathered in front of their homes as a panoramic crime scene camera whirred in the background.
    — Michael Democker, NOLA.com, 21 Oct. 2017
  • Outside, traffic whirred down 23rd Street.
    — St. John Barned-Smith, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Aug. 2025

whir

2 of 2 noun
  • And the whir of the midterms wasn't far away.
    — ABC News, 9 June 2026
  • And the whir of the midterms wasn’t far away.
    — Steven Sloan, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
  • The drone took off with a whir and flew to the far side of the basin.
    — Anna Canny, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Aug. 2023
  • Her vocals drift on the fluttery synth that swells as the bass whirs.
    — Pitchfork, 10 Dec. 2025
  • The whir of the white noise machine that helped my daughter fall back asleep.
    — Aisha Muharrar, Bon Appetit Magazine, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Sloan powers up the toy and watches as the motor starts to whir.
    — Lux Alptraum, Wired, 16 Oct. 2020
  • The blender whirs, the sour mix splooshes and Roberto’s your tío.
    — M. Carrie Allan, Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2023
  • Lights flicker in old houses, an icy gust whirs through ancient trees.
    — Becky Cooper, The New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2017
  • The whir of cars passing the homestead can be heard on the wraparound front porch.
    — Vincent T. Davis, San Antonio Express-News, 24 Apr. 2022
  • These whir in the air and pummel the ground and catch the light like helicopter blades.
    — Brian Seibert, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2020
  • The room was silent but for the whir of the machinery and the slow scrape of the stylus.
    — Amit Katwala, WIRED, 2 Mar. 2023
  • At night, the faintest whir of helicopter blades would jolt her from bed; wounded were on the way.
    — Jim Rendon, Marie Claire, 29 Oct. 2018
  • The whir of the wind could be heard gusting after the tornado moved out of sight.
    — Audrey McNamara, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2020
  • For one person, the gentle whir of a steam cleaner might be soothing.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 22 Aug. 2022
  • The only noise was the dull whir of the new air filtration system at the front of the room.
    — Star Tribune, 8 Sep. 2020
  • In an empty room with four gray walls, black projectors near the ceiling whir to life.
    — Dallas News, 29 Aug. 2022
  • For his wife, the bigger problem was the never-ending whir of the chiller pumps.
    — Cade Metz, New York Times, 20 Oct. 2020
  • The whir of passing cars replaces the raucous crowd on gamedays.
    — Matthew Defranks, Sun-Sentinel.com, 11 Sep. 2017
  • Drones don't have the same jet engines as larger aircraft, but their systems still buzz and whir.
    — Katharine Gammon, Discover Magazine, 18 Feb. 2022
  • But a bicycle makes no noise apart from the whir of its crankshaft and the chu-chunk of its derailleurs.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 31 Aug. 2022
  • Around me, the quiet is broken only by the whir of the cable car engine and the trilling of birds.
    — New York Times, 12 May 2022
  • But down in the living room was just the whir of the record, spinning past the last song, the needle arm retired to the side.
    — Rebecca Makkai, chicagotribune.com, 21 May 2018
  • Listen to the chirps, whirs and flutter of the creatures that still stir and witness the night-blooming plants.
    — Sonja Haller, azcentral, 28 June 2018
  • Music blared from some cars but not loud enough to wipe away the ever-present whir of cars on the nearby interstate.
    — Bill Glauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12 Apr. 2021
  • Instead, the whir of wings breaks the silence as a great blue heron suddenly descends to perch on the boat’s bow.
    — Brian J. Cantwell, The Seattle Times, 6 Sep. 2017
  • Keep it out and check out Kari’s round-up of savory dishes and dips that come together with a whir.
    — The Washington Post, 17 June 2020
  • The office building was locked — just me and the janitors and the whir of the autoclave.
    — New York Times, 26 Apr. 2022
  • The whir of the engine thrums, a constant reverberation felt in the teeth.
    — New York Times, 24 Apr. 2021
  • As the documentary opens, insect whirs and faint helicopter chuf-chufs mix with a choral hymn.
    — Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026
  • The click and whir of the camera are the first notes in Jovan Ajder’s evocative sound design.
    — Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 May 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whir.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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