gyrate

1 to wind or move in a spiral course; "the muscles and nerves of his fine drawn body were coiling for action"; "black smoke coiling up into the sky"; "the young people gyrated on the dance floor" [syn: spiral, coil]

2 revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis; "The dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy" [syn: spin, spin around, whirl, reel]

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪt

Etymology

from Greek gyros (circle) through Latin into Middle English to English

Verb

1. To revolve round a central point; to move spirally about an axis, as a tornado; to revolve.

Adjective

1. Having coils or convolutions

advance, ascend, back, back up, budge, change, change place, circle, circulate, circumrotate, circumvolute, climb, crank, descend, ebb, flow, get over, go, go around, go round, go sideways, gyre, mount, move, move over, pirouette, pivot, plunge, progress, purl, regress, retrogress, revolve, rise, roll, rotate, round, run, screw, shift, sink, soar, spin, stir, stream, subside, swing, swirl, swivel, travel, turn, turn a pirouette, turn about, turn around, turn round, twirl, twist, wamble, wane, wheel, whirl, whirligig, wind