whirlpool
[hwurl-pool, wurl-]
- water in swift, circular motion, as that produced by the meeting of opposing currents, often causing a downward spiraling action.
- whirlpool bath.
- Heraldry. gurge(def 2).
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Origin of whirlpool
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for whirlpool
Contemporary Examples
The shock plunges you into a whirlpool of fear, denial and feverish action.
The new wrinkle is that the river of time may whirlpool and even fork.
Historical Examples
It was quite dark, and round her swept as it were a whirlpool of snow.
Heather and SnowGeorge MacDonald
Glenfaba may be dull, but you do well to keep out of the whirlpool of London for the present.
The ChristianHall Caine
They broke, and, as they did so, the boat shot forward into the whirlpool of froth.
Cap'n EriJoseph Crosby Lincoln
But I was of no more than her own age, and I had not yet been drawn into that whirlpool.
The Historical Nights' EntertainmentRafael Sabatini
He grew very weary of the giddy rout, standing in it like a rock in a whirlpool.
Dr. SevierGeorge W. Cable
whirlpool
- a powerful circular current or vortex of water, usually produced by conflicting tidal currents or by eddying at the foot of a waterfall
- something resembling a whirlpool in motion or the power to attract into its vortex
- short for whirlpool bath
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for whirlpool
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
whirlpool
[wûrl′pōōl′]
- 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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.