vortex
Americannoun
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vortices,
plural
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vortexes
plural
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a whirling mass of water, especially one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool.
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a whirling mass of air, especially one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado.
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a whirling mass of fire, flame, etc.
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a state of affairs likened to a whirlpool for violent activity, irresistible force, etc.
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something regarded as drawing into its powerful current everything that surrounds it.
the vortex of war.
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(in Cartesian philosophy) a rapid rotatory movement of cosmic matter about a center, regarded as accounting for the origin or phenomena of bodies or systems of bodies in space.
noun
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a whirling mass or rotary motion in a liquid, gas, flame, etc, such as the spiralling movement of water around a whirlpool
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any activity, situation, or way of life regarded as irresistibly engulfing
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vortexes
plural
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A circular, spiral, or helical motion in a fluid (such as a gas) or the fluid in such a motion. A vortex often forms around areas of low pressure and attracts the fluid (and the objects moving within it) toward its center. Tornados are examples of vortexes; vortexes that form around flying objects are a source of turbulence and drag.
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See also eddy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of vortex
First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin, variant of vertex vertex
Explanation
Think vortex and picture a tornado or whirlpool — swirling around, causing destruction. If you picture a whirlpool spinning and draining like water out of a bathtub, you'll get a pretty good impression of what a vortex looks like. Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz found out first-hand the meaning of vortex as she and her house whirled around in the funnel cloud of a tornado. In a figurative sense, vortex can be used to talk about something that seems like it is whirling out of control, all consuming, or chaotic. This may include exam week, your relationships, or your life in general.
Vocabulary lists containing vortex
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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:
Sometimes, however, the polar vortex can wobble, weaken or even reverse direction.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Magnetic moments spiral around a central line extending through the fossil, producing a structure that resembles a tornado-shaped vortex.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
According to Harrison, this type of vortex magnetism has properties that are exceptionally well suited to navigation.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
Its three plexiglass vaults hold ghostly symbols of procreation: an irradiated vortex, the fertility goddess Hera, a DNA spiral.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
In the stairwell, the floors and stairs below were a white-water river, a vortex of cascading waves.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Her drawings, which come in sets of two or three near-identical shapes, have "a beautiful intricacy to them" and "look like swirling vortexes", he said.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
Their findings revealed that swimmers can utilize water flow and vortexes more effectively as their speed increases.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2024
After the Breton engineers who had designed and assembled the vortexes told everyone to take their seats, the “Prometheus” team quieted down, and waited.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
Mobulas are known to create vortex formations when feeding or resting, but this is the first time vortexes have been reported in a mating context.
From National Geographic ● Nov. 20, 2023
Little vortexes of dust spiral around the block as I step down from the trailer with my parents.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
Small disturbances at that boundary can then grow into waves or swirling vortices.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
The newly discovered vortices could supply part of the answer.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
The phenomenon happens when fluids - in this case hot gases - slide past each other and cause small disturbances to grow into spiralling vortices.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Zooming in on the Sun's surface, the team captured a detailed view of swirling vortices.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
All of this can be explained very well in the atomic model of the world, but only with much greater difficulty using Cartesian vortices.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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.
