Definitions for "Whirligig"
A child's toy, spun or whirled around like a wheel upon an axis, or like a top.
A whirligig is a punitive or torture contraption comprising a suspended cage-like device.http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=whirligig Websters Dictionary (1913 edition) The victim would be placed in the cage, which was spun violently in order to cause severe nausea.
Keywords:  pivot, val, petty, medi, wooden
Anything which whirls around, or in which persons or things are whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden horses.
A mediƦval instrument for punishing petty offenders, being a kind of wooden cage turning on a pivot, in which the offender was whirled round with great velocity.
large mechanical apparatus with seats for children to ride on
Any one of numerous species of beetles belonging to Gyrinus and allied genera. The body is firm, oval or boatlike in form, and usually dark colored with a bronzelike luster. These beetles live mostly on the surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able to dive and swim rapidly. The larva is aquatic. Called also weaver, whirlwig, and whirlwig beetle.
a conical child's plaything tapering to a steel point on which it can be made to spin; "he got a bright red top and string for his birthday"
whirl or spin like a whirligig
A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member that spins or whirls.