eddy
noun
a current at variance with the main current in a stream of liquid or gas, especially one having a rotary or whirling motion.
eddy
1 American
[ed-ee]
/ ˈɛd i /
noun
-
eddies
plural
-
a current at variance with the main current in a stream of liquid or gas, especially one having a rotary or whirling motion.
-
a small whirlpool.
-
any similar current, as of air, dust, or fog.
-
a current or trend, as of opinion or events, running counter to the main current.
verb (used with or without object)
-
eddies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
eddied,
past participle, past
-
eddying
present participle
Eddy
1
British
/ ˈɛdɪ /
noun
eddy
2
British
/ ˈɛdɪ /
noun
-
a movement in a stream of air, water, or other fluid in which the current doubles back on itself causing a miniature whirlwind or whirlpool
-
a deviation from or disturbance in the main trend of thought, life, etc, esp one that is relatively unimportant
verb
eddy
Scientific
/ ĕd′ē /
-
A current, as of water or air, moving in a direction that is different from that of the main current. Eddies generally involve circular motion; unstable patterns of eddies are often called turbulence.
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See also vortex
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
eddysimple
-
eddiessimple
-
have eddiedperfect
-
has eddiedperfect
-
am eddyingprogressive
-
are eddyingprogressive
-
is eddyingprogressive
-
have been eddyingperfect progressive
-
has been eddyingperfect progressive
Past
-
eddiedsimple
-
had eddiedperfect
-
was eddyingprogressive
-
were eddyingprogressive
-
had been eddyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of eddy
1425–75; late Middle English; Old English ed- turning + ēa water; akin to Old Norse itha
Explanation
An eddy is a whirlpool — what you stare at as a kid when the water is draining out of the bathtub. Pronounced exactly like the name, “Eddie,” this word means to swirl in a direction opposite of the current. Any substance like water, fog, smoke, or air can create an eddy, but it is most commonly seen as a term related to water. Books from the "flapper" era of the 1920s often include a description of a nightclub with "an eddy of cigarette smoke above a woman’s head."
Vocabulary lists containing eddy
List 4
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 8–13
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Life Is So Good
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In one part of the conveyor system, a vibrating panel called an eddy current creates a sort of reverse magnet that repels nonferrous materials like aluminum beverage cans into their own collection area.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Navigating the galleries, which spill into each other, is akin to being dizzyingly spun from eddy to eddy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025
Temperature data from satellites and buoys revealed a large southbound eddy moving through the region, coupled with 4 days of strong easterly winds, fueled strong upwelling.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 15, 2024
The group of scientists wondered if it was possible to make, and hold, medium-size eddies -- neither one big eddy, nor smaller and smaller ones.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2024
The place was a back eddy, a pool of jetsam beyond the pull of the main current, and that suited him just fine.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Eddy mean flow feedbacks strengthened and prolonged the resulting circulation pattern.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026
Jordan may wish to exact revenge, and Eddy may want to find one of the victims who has vanished, but both have to go about their work furtively.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
The 27-year-old UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider crossed the line on Paris' Champs-Elysees in the peloton, to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the endurance event's most successful male riders.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Since the Tour began in 1903, only four other men have racked up five titles: Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, and Eddy Merckx.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
“I’m going to the Eddy and fish,” the first said.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
It happens through a combination of eddies, mixing, rotation and friction close to land.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The Float and Fish excursion sends guests in kayaks along a clear and fast-moving section of the river, casting in pockets and eddies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
In the case of the Agulhas Current, researchers in 2016 reported that since the 1990s its flow had grown broader and was more likely to create potent eddies.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 15, 2024
The group of scientists wondered if it was possible to make, and hold, medium-size eddies -- neither one big eddy, nor smaller and smaller ones.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2024
The currents shifting, as though something was swirling and swimming, creating eddies under the surface.
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
All around, the floor had grown treacherous from the slippery fallen gold, which eddied into corners, like piles of leaves.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 21, 2015
Such talk has swirled and eddied here since the mid-1980s.
From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2012
A thousand conflicting feelings eddied in his head.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2012
Disquieting rumors eddied through the quiet corridors of slick, Hearst-owned Town & Country.
From Time Magazine Archive
The smell of peaches and cheese eddied about the car, filling his nose with pleasure.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
On cue, they lift sun-reflecting mirrored panels above their heads and begin an eddying, light-glinting processional dance of protest and preservation.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2022
Its ambiguities and enigmas add up to not more eddying confusions but to a stark reminder that the only reasonable response to grief is “life life life.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 2022
The crowds mostly kept a respectful distance but in sight of the gate, eddying like pilgrims gathered around a shrine, only breaking their vigil to watch a plane arc slowly by.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2021
But the highlight was an impossibly sustained high harmonic, eddying above distant turbulence from the timpani.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 3, 2013
The farther trees looked shadowy, and almost black, and the stream was suddenly opaque, eddying about Kingshaw’s thighs.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
