whirligigs
plural of whirligig
Source: Wiktionary
Whirl"i*gig, n. Etym: [Whirl + gig.]
1. A child's toy, spun or whirled around like a wheel upon an axis, or like a top. Johnson.
2. Anything which whirls around, or in which persons or things are whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden horses. With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning about each head. G. W. Cable.
3. A mediæval instrument for punishing petty offenders, being a kind of wooden cage turning on a pivot, in which the offender was whirled round with great velocity.
4. (Zoöl.)
Definition: Any one of numerous species of beetles belonging to Gyrinus and allied genera. The body is firm, oval or boatlike in form, and usually dark colored with a bronzelike luster. These beetles live mostly on the surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able to dive and swim rapidly. The larva is aquatic. Called also weaver, whirlwig, and whirlwig beetle.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
1 June 2025
(verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; “Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble”; “the political movie backlashed on the Democrats”
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
