eddy

¹ American  

[ed-ee] / ˈɛd i /

noun

plural

eddies

1. a current at variance with the main current in a stream of liquid or gas, especially one having a rotary or whirling motion.

2. a small whirlpool.

3. any similar current, as of air, dust, or fog.

4. a current or trend, as of opinion or events, running counter to the main current.

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verb (used with or without object)

eddied, eddying

1. to move or whirl in eddies.

Eddy ² American  

[ed-ee] / ˈɛd i /

noun

1. Mary (Morse) Baker Mrs. GloverMrs. Patterson, 1821–1910, U.S. founder of the Christian Science Church.

2. Also Eddie. a male given name, form of Edgar or Edward.

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eddy ¹ British  

/ ˈɛdɪ /

noun

1. 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

2. a deviation from or disturbance in the main trend of thought, life, etc, esp one that is relatively unimportant

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verb

1. to move or cause to move against the main current

Eddy ² British  

/ ˈɛdɪ /

noun

1. Mary Baker. 1821–1910, US religious leader; founder of the Christian Science movement (1866)

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eddy Scientific  

/ ĕd′ē /

1. 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.

2. See also vortex

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Other Word Forms

• uneddied adjective
• uneddying adjective

Etymology

Origin of eddy

1425–75; late Middle English; Old English ed- turning + ēa water; akin to Old Norse itha

Example Sentences

They can’t recreate every wind puff and ocean eddy, so they divide the world into a 3-D grid and generate myriad variables for each box, from soil temperature to ocean salinity.

From The Wall Street Journal

He exhaled; the mist eddied, choking and acrid.

From Literature

“It’s a little bit like if you're kayaking in a river, and there's rocks underneath the water, sometimes there's eddies in the surface, which can tell you about the rocks under the water,” explained Ockenden.

From BBC

Wind rustles the changing leaves, and some loose ones—brown, yellow, reddish-green—flutter down, swirling in little eddies of air.

From Literature

The sources of our malaise are deeper than the shallow eddies of fashion and entertainment in “Blank Space.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• whirlpool