whirlybird

English

Etymology

From whirly +‎ bird.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

whirlybird (plural whirlybirds)

1. (slang) A helicopter.
   • 1988, R.E.M. (lyrics and music), “Orange Crush”, in Green:

     ... and then this whirlybird that I headed for, I had my goggles off...

2. (informal) A samara.
3. (colloquial) A wind-powered roof turbine.

Translations

helicopter

• Bulgarian: въртолет (bg) m (vǎrtolet)
• Finnish: vispilä (fi)
• French: banane (fr) f
• Russian: верту́шка (ru) (vertúška)