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tourbillon

[ toor-bil-yuhn; French toor-bee-yawn ]
/ tʊərˈbɪl yən; French tur bi ˈyɔ̃ /
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noun
Horology. a frame for the escapement of a timepiece, especially a watch, geared to the going train in such a way as to rotate the escapement about once a minute in order to minimize positional error.Compare karrusel.
a firework that rises spirally: Between two spectacular pinwheels, they launched a series of silvery tourbillons.
whirlwind.
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Sometimes tour·bil·lion [toor-bil-yuhn] /tʊərˈbɪl yən/ .

Origin of tourbillon

First recorded in 1470–80; earlier turbilloun, from Middle French to(u)rbillon, from unattested Vulgar Latin turbiliōnem, dissimilated variant of turbiniōnem, accusative of turbiniō “whirlwind”; see turbine, -ion

Words nearby tourbillon

tour, touraco, Touraine, Tourane, tourbillion, tourbillon, Tourcoing, tour de force, Tour-de-France, tour d'horizon, Touré
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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