cartwheel vs twirl

cartwheel

noun
  • A gymnastic maneuver whereby the gymnast rotates to one side or the other while keeping arms and legs outstretched, spinning for one or more revolutions. 

  • The literal wheel of a cart. 

verb
  • To perform the gymnastics feat of a cartwheel. 

  • To flip end over end: normally said of a crashing vehicle or aircraft. 

twirl

noun
  • A movement where a person spins round elegantly; a pirouette. 

  • A little twist of some substance; a swirl. 

  • Any rotating movement; a spin. 

  • A prison guard. 

verb
  • To twist round. 

  • To pitch. 

  • To rotate rapidly. 

  • To perform a twirl. 

How often have the words cartwheel and twirl occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )