whirlblast
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]whirlblast (plural whirlblasts)
- (archaic, poetic) A whirlwind.
- 1829, Thomas Love Peacock, The Misfortunes of Elphin:
- The breakers rave; the whirlblasts roar; / The mingled rage of seas and skies / Bursts on the low and lonely shore […]
- 1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter I, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book IV (Varennes), pages 151–152:
- But now, how easily might these, dashing out on Lafayette, snatch off the Hereditary Representative; and roll away with him, after the manner of a whirl-blast, whither they listed!