Make Your Point > Archived Issues > GYRE

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explore the archives: Gyro is Greek for "ring, circle, or spiral," and a gyre is a whirl or a spiral turn. It's also an action: to gyre is to whirl around. Although gyre was unfamiliar to Lewis Carroll's Alice in 1871 when she read it in the Jabberwocky poem--"’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe"--Carroll didn't actually make up this word; it's been around since the year 1420 or so. Carroll did, however, invent a word that starts with G meaning "to move in a joyful but heavy and clumsy way." Can you recall it? Here's how it appears in "Jabberwocky:"       He left it dead, and with its head             He went g______ing back. make your point with... "GYRE" A gyre is a whirl: a turning around or a spiraling around. To gyre (or to gyrate) is to whirl around. Pronunciation: JIRE Part of speech: Both a noun (one gyre, these gyres) and a verb (he gyres, she gyred, it kept gyring). Other forms: gyres, gyred, gyring; gyrate (it means the same as "gyre"), gyrated, gyrating, gyration(s); gyral (or "gyratory"), gyrally How to use it: Although you can stick with the more common terms "gyration," "gyrate," and "gyrating," we have a poetic and beautiful alternative: "gyre." To use the noun, talk about people, animals, and things both concrete and abstract that move in gyres, or talk about the gyre or gyres of something: "insects swarming in gyres," "anger rising up in gyres," "the gyre of the insects," "the gyre of anger." To use the verb, talk about things that gyre or that gyre around things: "insects gyre endlessly," "anger gyres in her mind,"  "insects gyred around our table," "anger gyred around the memories." And to use the adjective, talk about gyral motion, movement, chaos, etc.: "the gyral motion of the insects," "the gyral chaos of stardom." examples: Jim flies in terrifying gyres toward the ground, then lifts back into the air just in time. The preschool classroom is a gyre of activity and motion as I drop off my daughter--no wonder she enters it so timidly. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "gyre" means when you can explain it without saying "spiral" or "vortex." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Thoughts or images) of (something exciting or scary) gyred around and around in my (mind or dreams)." Example: "Images of Walking Dead zombies gyred around and around in my dreams." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. License Plate Words! You’ve spotted a cluster of three letters on a license plate. Keep all three letters together—don’t insert any letters between them—but add any letters you like to the left and/or right of the cluster to form words. For example, when you spot the cluster CKG, you can form BACKGROUND and BACKGAMMON (and all their related words, like BACKGROUNDER and BACKGAMMONING, for a total of 8 possible words). We’ll move from easy to hard clusters as the month goes on. (For the curious, you can generate a complete list of answers using a tool like this one.) Let's play! Our previous question: If you spot the cluster AEO, you can use it to form 69 words, although many of them are technical. Give yourself a minute or so. Can you think of a few? Possible answers: You may have thought of AEONS, AEONIAN, ARCHAEOLOGY, and/or PALAEOGRAPHY.  Try this today: If you spot the cluster VOT, you can use it to form 63 words. Give yourself a minute or so. How many can you think of? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of GYRE is A. VIBRATE B. SWING C. STAND 2. The plot _____ in _____ gyres. A. chugs along .. straightforward B. thickens .. increasing C. races .. dizzying Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. C