hurricane
- a violent, tropical, cyclonic storm of the western North Atlantic, having wind speeds of or in excess of 72 miles per hour (32 m/sec).Compare tropical cyclone, typhoon.
- a storm of the most intense severity.
- anything suggesting a violent storm.
- (initial capital letter) Military. a single-seat British fighter plane of World War II, fitted with eight .303 caliber machine guns and with a top speed in excess of 300 miles per hour (480 km/h).
Origin of hurricane
Examples from the Web for hurricane
Contemporary Examples
The absent turkey had been blown clean away in the hurricane force winds, I concluded.
Leaving the moribund Eddie, Frank crosses paths with a black deliveryman, and they talk about hurricane survivors.
Ann is only one of many “hurricane conspirators” who believe the storm has changed everything.
Inhofe said the two disasters were different because the hurricane drew so many moochers.
Four years later, when Hurricane Katrina hit, 80 percent of the city went underwater, at an average level of four feet.
Historical Examples
The rain, falling in a deluge, was driven by a wind like a hurricane.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
The wind swelled to a hurricane, and the rain dashed like a flood against the glass.
Maid MarianThomas Love Peacock
If the hurricane swept away our tent, I dont know where we should find it again.
The Field of IceJules Verne
It was like a hurricane of delirium rushing by and laying every head in the dust.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
The hurricane, the most furious ever felt in the province, lasted three days.
The History of LouisianaLe Page Du Pratz
hurricane
- a severe, often destructive storm, esp a tropical cyclone
- a wind of force 12 or above on the Beaufort scale
- (as modifier)a wind of hurricane force
- anything acting like such a wind
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for hurricane
n.
1550s, a partially deformed adoptation from Spanish huracan (Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, "Historia General y Natural de las Indias," 1547-9), furacan (in the works of Pedro Mártir De Anghiera, chaplain to the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and historian of Spanish explorations), from an Arawakan (W. Indies) word. In Portuguese, it became furacão. For confusion of initial -f- and -h- in Spanish, see hacienda. The word is first in English in Richard Eden's "Decades of the New World":
These tempestes of the ayer (which the Grecians caule Tiphones ...) they caule furacanes.
OED records 39 different spellings, mostly from the late 16c., including forcane, herrycano, harrycain, hurlecane. Modern form became frequent from 1650, established after 1688. Shakespeare uses hurricano ("King Lear," "Troilus and Cressida"), but in reference to waterspouts.
hurricane
- A severe, rotating tropical storm with heavy rains and cyclonic winds exceeding 74 mi (119 km) per hour, especially such a storm occurring in the Northern Hemisphere. Hurricanes originate in the tropical parts of the Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean Sea and move generally northward. They lose force when they move over land or colder ocean waters. See Note at cyclone.
hurricane
A large tropical storm system with high-powered circular winds. (See cyclone and eye of a hurricane.)