gyre

[jahyuh r]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gyre ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a ring or circle.

a circular course or motion.

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

Origin of gyre

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

Related formssub·gyre, nounsu·per·gyre, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gyre

globe, circus, crown, disk, enclosure, belt, bowl, meridian, horizon, circlet, hoop, aureole, compass, coil, lap, halo, cycle, circumference, band, bracelet

Examples from the Web for gyre

Contemporary Examples of gyre

Yet with the tsunami debris joining the gyre, the problem is compounding more quickly than anyone can measure.
Japanese Debris Plume From Tsunami Migrating Across Pacific Ocean
Daniel Stone
March 9, 2012

Historical Examples of gyre

Gyre (derived from Gayour or Giaour, a dog), “to scratch like a dog.”
Lewis Carroll in Wonderland and at Home
Belle Moses
Dorsally, the fissure bifurcates, embracing the gyre indented by the caudal limb of the paracentral.
Christian Science
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

British Dictionary definitions for gyre

gyre

noun

a circular or spiral movement or path

a ring, circle, or spiral

verb

(intr) to whirl

Word Origin for gyre

C16: from Latin gӯrus circle, from Greek guros

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gyre

1560s, "a circular motion;" as a verb, "to turn round," early 15c.; from Latin gyrus "circle, circular course, round, ring," and its derived verb gyrare, from Greek gyros "circle, ring," related to gyrós "rounded," perhaps from PIE root *geu- "to bend, curve" (cf. Armenian kor "crooked," Lithuanian gurnas "hip, ankle, bone," Norwegian kaure "a curly lock of hair").

gyre in Science

gyre

[jīr]

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.