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Glite Dictionary
whorly

whorly

9.0
Having parts arranged in a circle or spiral around a plant stem
  • adjective
  • Specialized
translation icon : en verticilos
  • The plant has whorly leaves that spiral out from a single point on the stem.

Examples

  • How ugly and strange a single finger is: its knuckle wrinkles, its whorly print, its pretty useless nail.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Once, following the woman up the stairs, the man had reached out his hand to grab the woman's rear, and his arm had extended like rubber or pulled taffy, a huge hand at the end of an endless arm, stretching out, following the woman's undulating rear up endless, whorly, undulating stairs.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The artist painted a whorly pattern that reminded viewers of swirling clouds.

  • In the garden, the whorly arrangement of petals attracted many bees.

Synonyms

whorled
vswhorly
  • Specialized
8.6

Arranged in a circle or spiral around a plant stem

has the same meaning but differs in word form or common usage

Surface Forms

whorly positive

Morphology

whorly = whorl (transparent) = whorl + ly

The adjective 'whorly' is transparently formed by adding the suffix '-ly' to the noun 'whorl', indicating a characteristic of having a spiral or circular arrangement.

Etymology

Whorly comes from whorl, a word for a 'ring' or 'coil', and is related to whirl, which means 'to spin'. So, something whorly has parts arranged in a circle or spiral, like leaves that circle a stem or a spiral shell.