[f. WHIRR v. + -ING1.] The action of the verb WHIRR; a continuous vibratory sound, or movement with such a sound.
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, II. 30. This speech doth greatly ioy the Greekes, They such a noyse and whirring made.
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. Furies, 115. The first movd heavn (int self it self stil stirring) Rapts with his course (quicker then windes swift whirring) All th other Sphears.
1811. Shelley, St. Irvyne, ix. Pr. Wks. 1888, I. 190. Save by the whirrings of the bats, the stillness was uninterrupted.
1840. Thackeray, George Cruikshank (1869), 305. What a pious whirring of bible leaves one hears all over the church.
1863. Bates, Nat. Amazons, I. i. 9. The whirring of cicadas.
1918. H. Bindloss, Agathas Fortune, ii. An electric fan made an unpleasant whirring as it churned the humid air.