Definition of "whir" []

• To move so as to produce a vibrating or buzzing sound. (verb-intransitive)
• To cause to make a vibratory sound. (verb-transitive)
• A sound of buzzing or vibration: the whir of turning wheels. (noun)
• Excited, noisy activity; bustle: the whir of busy shoppers. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "With a low whistle, he brought his gun quickly down from his shoulder as a partridge, rising with a gentle whir from the red-topped orchard grass in front of him, skimmed lightly into the golden pathway the sun made through the mist."
• "As I smoked I heard the game begin again, -- with a miss in balk this time, for the whir was a short one."
• "As I smoked I heard the game begin again -- with a miss in balk this time, for the whir was a short one."