"twirly" meaning in English

See twirly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈtwɜː.liː/ [Received-Pronunciation] Forms: twirlier [comparative], twirliest [superlative]
Etymology: From twirl + -y. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|twirl|y}} twirl + -y Head templates: {{en-adj|er}} twirly (comparative twirlier, superlative twirliest)
  1. coiled or curly
    Sense id: en-twirly-en-adj-V~Ejk45N Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -y
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Noun

IPA: /ˈtwɜː.liː/ [Received-Pronunciation] Forms: twirlies [plural]
Etymology: Blend of too + early from the question "Am I too early [to use my pass]?" frequently asked of bus drivers, etc. by holders of OAP/senior citizen or similar travel passes that are not valid before a certain time (usually 9:30am). Etymology templates: {{blend|en|too|early}} Blend of too + early Head templates: {{en-noun}} twirly (plural twirlies)
  1. (British, Ireland, slang, sometimes derogatory) an old age pensioner or other elderly person, especially one using public transport. Tags: British, Ireland, derogatory, slang, sometimes Synonyms: coffin dodger, geriatric, senior citizen, old person
    Sense id: en-twirly-en-noun-RCT3Q~A~ Categories (other): British English, Irish English, English blends, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry Disambiguation of English blends: 33 67 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 9 91 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 8 92
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "twirl",
        "3": "y"
      },
      "expansion": "twirl + -y",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From twirl + -y.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "twirlier",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "twirliest",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "er"
      },
      "expansion": "twirly (comparative twirlier, superlative twirliest)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -y",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "coiled or curly"
      ],
      "id": "en-twirly-en-adj-V~Ejk45N",
      "links": [
        [
          "coiled",
          "coiled"
        ],
        [
          "curly",
          "curly"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtwɜː.liː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "twirly"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "too",
        "3": "early"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of too + early",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of too + early from the question \"Am I too early [to use my pass]?\" frequently asked of bus drivers, etc. by holders of OAP/senior citizen or similar travel passes that are not valid before a certain time (usually 9:30am).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "twirlies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "twirly (plural twirlies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Irish English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "33 67",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English blends",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 92",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1986, Working Group on Violence to Road Passenger Transport Staff, Assaults on bus staff and measures to prevent such assaults, HMSO, page 51",
          "text": "Some passengers do try to use passes fraudulently and the time restriction on OAP passes can sometimes lead to arguments (the so-called \"twirlies\" — \"Am I too early?\") but seldom to assaults.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1986, Rick Steves, Great Britain in 22 days: a step-by-step guide and travel itinerary, page 52",
          "text": "These are a great hit with \"Twirlies\" (senior citizens, infamous for using their bus passes \"too-early\" before rush hour fades).",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 May 14, Daisy Dart, “Re: Passengers say the stupidest things”, in Bus drivers canteen (Usenet), message-ID <1179173999.213616.59880@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>",
          "text": "I once had a twirly get on my bus, well I have had several hundred actually but that's beside the point!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Maureen Harvey, “5 The Breakthrough”, in Pure Evil - How Tracie Andrews murdered my son, deceived the nation and sentenced me to a life of pain and misery",
          "text": "He'd been so desperate to go to the toilet that he'd parked the bus, locked the twirlies on it and run through the gully home!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "an old age pensioner or other elderly person, especially one using public transport."
      ],
      "id": "en-twirly-en-noun-RCT3Q~A~",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "old age pensioner",
          "old age pensioner"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, Ireland, slang, sometimes derogatory) an old age pensioner or other elderly person, especially one using public transport."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "coffin dodger"
        },
        {
          "word": "geriatric"
        },
        {
          "word": "senior citizen"
        },
        {
          "word": "old person"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "Ireland",
        "derogatory",
        "slang",
        "sometimes"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtwɜː.liː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "twirly"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English blends",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms suffixed with -y",
    "Pages with 1 entry"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "twirl",
        "3": "y"
      },
      "expansion": "twirl + -y",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From twirl + -y.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "twirlier",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "twirliest",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "er"
      },
      "expansion": "twirly (comparative twirlier, superlative twirliest)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "coiled or curly"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "coiled",
          "coiled"
        ],
        [
          "curly",
          "curly"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtwɜː.liː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "twirly"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English blends",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "too",
        "3": "early"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of too + early",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of too + early from the question \"Am I too early [to use my pass]?\" frequently asked of bus drivers, etc. by holders of OAP/senior citizen or similar travel passes that are not valid before a certain time (usually 9:30am).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "twirlies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "twirly (plural twirlies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English derogatory terms",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Irish English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1986, Working Group on Violence to Road Passenger Transport Staff, Assaults on bus staff and measures to prevent such assaults, HMSO, page 51",
          "text": "Some passengers do try to use passes fraudulently and the time restriction on OAP passes can sometimes lead to arguments (the so-called \"twirlies\" — \"Am I too early?\") but seldom to assaults.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1986, Rick Steves, Great Britain in 22 days: a step-by-step guide and travel itinerary, page 52",
          "text": "These are a great hit with \"Twirlies\" (senior citizens, infamous for using their bus passes \"too-early\" before rush hour fades).",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 May 14, Daisy Dart, “Re: Passengers say the stupidest things”, in Bus drivers canteen (Usenet), message-ID <1179173999.213616.59880@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>",
          "text": "I once had a twirly get on my bus, well I have had several hundred actually but that's beside the point!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Maureen Harvey, “5 The Breakthrough”, in Pure Evil - How Tracie Andrews murdered my son, deceived the nation and sentenced me to a life of pain and misery",
          "text": "He'd been so desperate to go to the toilet that he'd parked the bus, locked the twirlies on it and run through the gully home!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "an old age pensioner or other elderly person, especially one using public transport."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "old age pensioner",
          "old age pensioner"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, Ireland, slang, sometimes derogatory) an old age pensioner or other elderly person, especially one using public transport."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "Ireland",
        "derogatory",
        "slang",
        "sometimes"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtwɜː.liː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "coffin dodger"
    },
    {
      "word": "geriatric"
    },
    {
      "word": "senior citizen"
    },
    {
      "word": "old person"
    }
  ],
  "word": "twirly"
}

Download raw JSONL data for twirly meaning in English (3.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-09-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-08-20 using wiktextract (8e41825 and f99c758). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.