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:
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
On the way to port, a powerful wave struck from two directions creating a whirlpool, and the boat flipped.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025
Byrne’s own children, 7 and 9, helped her snap out of the whirlpool of emotion that was making “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025
Someone who could possibly answer that question would be Ryuji, who in the end decides to satisfy his curiosity and give himself over to the whirlpool.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2025
I had a feeling that if I let myself I could fall toward it, that it was pulling me, pulling the whole world in like a whirlpool.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
Because the researchers find that these small whirlpools appear continuously wherever the magnetic field is sufficiently strong, the vortices could provide a persistent mechanism for twisting the Sun's magnetic field lines.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
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
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
Other times, whirlpools smash their heads against rocks.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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.
