whirlpool

American  

[hwurl-pool, wurl-] / ˈʰwɜrlˌpul, ˈwɜrl- /

noun

• whirlpools
  plural

1. water in swift, circular motion, as that produced by the meeting of opposing currents, often causing a downward spiraling action.

2. whirlpool bath.

3. Heraldry. gurge.

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whirlpool British  

/ ˈwɜːlˌpuːl /

noun

1. a powerful circular current or vortex of water, usually produced by conflicting tidal currents or by eddying at the foot of a waterfall

2. something resembling a whirlpool in motion or the power to attract into its vortex

3. short for whirlpool bath

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whirlpool Scientific  

/ wûrl′po̅o̅l′ /

1. A rapidly rotating current of water or other liquid that sucks everything near it toward its center. The meeting of two tides can create a whirlpool.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• whirlpools
  plural

Etymology

Origin of whirlpool

1520–30; whirl + pool ¹; compare late Old English hwyrfepōl

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whirlpool whirlpools

In the meantime, Blackpool is stuck in a whirlpool, where cheap accommodation draws in people down on their luck, who in turn place huge strain on local government services.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Below the cliff where Arisu and this gentleman converse lies a vast body of churning water with a foreboding whirlpool at its heart.

From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2025

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

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

A wild whirlpool began to spin, its white waves becoming a herd of longma—dragon horses—racing to herald him in.

From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin

The Atlantic island's position in the Hebridean archipelago protects it from the ocean swells, but occasionally brings inhabitants the challenge of navigating the Corryvreckan whirlpools.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025

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

I managed two exciting trips during its short four-month life, before its magnificent dance in a windstorm and collapse into the whirlpools below on Nov. 7, 1940.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2024

Across the universe, the immense gravitational pull of black holes sucks up whirlpools of gas called accretion disks.

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2023

In the Stepstones they had taken on grain and game and fresh water, after the long voyage along the bleak and barren coast of Dome with its shoals and whirlpools.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Related Words

• eddy
• maelstrom
• vortex