whim

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A sudden or capricious idea; a fancy.
• noun Arbitrary thought or impulse.
• noun A vertical horse-powered drum used as a hoist in a mine.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun 6. A pun.
• To turn round; be seized with a whim: also with an indefinite it.
• To turn; cause to turn; turn off or away.
• noun The brow of a hill.
• noun The widgeon or whewer, Mareca penelope. See whew-duck.
• noun An unexpected or surprising turn; a startling outcome, development, or proceeding; a prank or freak.
• noun A sudden turn or inclination of the mind; a fancy; a caprice.
• noun A simple machine for raising ore from mines of moderate depth.
• noun Hence, a mine: as, Tully Whim, in the Isle of Purbeck, England.
• noun A round table that turns round upon a screw.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Zoöl.), Prov. Eng. The European widgeon.
• intransitive verb rare To be subject to, or indulge in, whims; to be whimsical, giddy, or freakish.
• noun A sudden turn or start of the mind; a temporary eccentricity; a freak; a fancy; a capricious notion; a humor; a caprice.
• noun (Mining) A large capstan or vertical drum turned by horse power or steam power, for raising ore or water, etc., from mines, or for other purposes; -- called also whim gin, and whimsey.
• noun (Mining) a whim. See Whim, 2.
• noun (Mining) a shaft through which ore, water, etc., is raised from a mine by means of a whim.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A fanciful impulse, or whimsical idea
• noun mining A large capstan or vertical drum turned by horse power or steam power, for raising ore or water, etc., from mines, or for other purposes

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a sudden desire
• noun an odd or fanciful or capricious idea