whirlpool
Americannoun
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whirlpools
plural
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water in swift, circular motion, as that produced by the meeting of opposing currents, often causing a downward spiraling action.
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Heraldry. gurge.
noun
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a powerful circular current or vortex of water, usually produced by conflicting tidal currents or by eddying at the foot of a waterfall
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something resembling a whirlpool in motion or the power to attract into its vortex
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short for whirlpool bath
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of whirlpool
Explanation
When two water currents meet, they sometimes form a swirling, circular whirlpool. There are some small but very strong whirlpools at the bottom of Niagara Falls. The way water moves in a circle as it drains out of your bathtub is a smaller version of what a whirlpool looks like in a large body of water. Whirlpools can be dangerous for swimmers and small boats, although larger ships aren't at any real risk of being sucked into a whirlpool, even a particularly large and powerful one — which can also be called a maelstrom.
Vocabulary lists containing whirlpool
Magical Mystery List D
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"Milady Standard Cosmetology," Vocabulary from Part 5
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English Language Development Texts, Unit 3
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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:
Travelers in select suites can enjoy private whirlpool spas and outdoor showers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 18, 2026
A boat with one person on board has been towed to safety after breaking down near the Corryvreckan whirlpool in Argyll and Bute.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2025
He is of course, referring to Homer's epic poem that follows the travels of Odysseus and his crew, who faced perils such a the monster Scylla and giant whirlpool Charybdis.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2024
Charybdis, a mythical female sea monster, is often depicted as a bottomless sucking whirlpool, but there’s power in accepting your hunger, whether it’s for food or love or armies crossing the sea in boats.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2024
How in the pit, when things got going, you weren’t so much walking or dancing as being sucked into a whirlpool.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Images and footage show "whirlpools" of activity that it has not been possible to see before.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
These eddies are like giant whirlpools and often reach the abyssal seafloor, resulting in seafloor erosion and large sediment accumulations called contourites, akin to snowdrifts.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024
Across the universe, the immense gravitational pull of black holes sucks up whirlpools of gas called accretion disks.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2023
When a superfluid rotates, little whirlpools, or vortices, develop.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 18, 2023
But in several places, the waves swirled and tapered into pinecone-sized whirlpools.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
