gyre

American  

[jahy^uhr] / dʒaɪər /

noun

1. a ring or circle.

2. a circular course or motion.

3. Oceanography. a ringlike system of ocean currents rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

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gyre British  

/ dʒaɪə /

noun

1. a circular or spiral movement or path

2. a ring, circle, or spiral

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verb

1. (intr) to whirl

gyre Scientific  

/ jīr /

1. A spiral oceanic surface current driven primarily by the global wind system and constrained by the continents surrounding the three ocean basins (Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian). Each ocean basin has a large gyre in the subtropical region, centered around 30° north and south latitude. Smaller gyres occur at 50° north latitude in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The direction of a gyre's rotation is determined by the prevailing winds in the region, with the large subtropical gyres rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subgyre
  noun
• supergyre
  noun

Etymology

Origin of gyre

1560–70; < Latin gȳrus < Greek gŷros ring, circle

Explanation

Use the word gyre when you describe the spiral shape that petals make in the face of a flower. You can use the noun gyre in a variety of ways, but it always means a kind of circle, especially one that coils or spirals. You'll see a gyre when you look straight at certain blossoms — the rings of petals in a rose, for example, form a gyre. Some plants have gyres of leaves making concentric circles. In late Middle English, to gyre was to "spin something around in circles," from the Greek root word gyros, "circle or ring."

Example Sentences

"If there isn't social buy-in, we're not done," the show's co-writer and rapper S'bo Gyre said.

From Reuters • Nov. 23, 2023

In these waters, hidden beneath sea ice, spins the 1000-kilometer-wide Ross Gyre, fed by warm currents from farther north.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 11, 2023

Another concern among scientists is that melting sea-ice is affecting a major ocean current in the Arctic - the Beaufort Gyre.

From BBC • Jul. 2, 2021

Ousland had planned their route to capitalize on two predictable Arctic Sea currents, the Beaufort Gyre and Transpolar Drift.

From National Geographic • Dec. 24, 2020

The Widening Gyre by John Scalzi, October 16th John Scalzi also has a second book hitting stores this year: Widening Gyre, the sequel to 2017 novel The Collapsing Empire.

From The Verge • Jan. 5, 2018