thirl

Meaning

Noun

1. A hole, an aperture, especially a nostril.
2. A low door in a dry-stone wall to allow sheep to pass through; a smoot.
3. (obsolete) A short communication between adits in a mine.
4. (obsolete) A long adit in a coalpit.

Verb

1. (obsolete) To pierce; to perforate, penetrate, cut through.
2. (obsolete) To drill or bore; to cut through, as a partition between one working and another.

Verb

To throw (a projectile).

Verb

1. To legally bind (a tenant) to the use of one's own property as an owner.
2. To bind; to obligate to use or be associated with.

Synonyms

thrill

bore

perforate

pierce

Pronounced as (IPA)

/θɝl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: thirl

Inherited from Old English: þyrel

In summary

From Middle English thirl, thiril, from Old English þyrel (“hole”), from Proto-West Germanic *þurhil, from Proto-Germanic *þurhilą (“hole, opening”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷelo- which is *tr̥h₂kʷe + *-lo (equivalent to through + -le) from *terh₂-. Related to thrill, drill.