whirlwind

[hwurl-wind, wurl-]

See more synonyms for whirlwind on Thesaurus.com

noun

any of several relatively small masses of air rotating rapidly around a more or less vertical axis and advancing simultaneously over land or sea, as a dust devil, tornado, or waterspout.
anything resembling a whirlwind, as in violent action or destructive force.
any circling rush or violent onward course.

adjective

like a whirlwind, as in speed or force: a whirlwind visit to New York.

verb (used without object)

to move or travel quickly.

Idioms

reap the whirlwind, to suffer the penalties for one's misdeeds. Hos. 8:7.

Origin of whirlwind

1300–50; Middle English < Old Norse hvirfilvindr; cognate with German Wirbelwind

Synonyms for whirlwind

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4. headlong, breakneck, hasty, impulsive.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for whirlwind

short, tornado, hurricane, rash, lightning, rapid, quick, swift, hasty, headlong, impetuous, impulsive, speedy, cyclonic

Examples from the Web for whirlwind

Contemporary Examples of whirlwind

He talks about a whirlwind weekend-long affair with a man he met at a club in Berlin.
Choose Your Own Neil Patrick Harris: The Star on ‘Doogie,’ ‘Gone Girl,’ Gay Sex and More
Kevin Fallon
October 10, 2014
Well known for his inability to say no to worthy causes, Palmer has always been a whirlwind of good works.
Will the Real Jim Palmer Please Stand Up
Tom Boswell
September 27, 2014
After a whirlwind romance, Sarkozy quickly married Bruni in February 2008.
Francois Hollande Announces Breakup with First Lady Valerie Trierweiler
Tracy McNicoll
January 26, 2014
Later that month he was making his first whirlwind foreign trip to identify countries that might be willing to take detainees.
Congress Cooperates, Obama Pushes Hard, and Closing Gitmo Has a Chance
Daniel Klaidman
December 12, 2013
This year has been a whirlwind for Kate Bosworth—featuring a new movie, new design collaboration, and even a new husband.
Kate Bosworth Is Back and Crazy in Love
Erin Cunningham
November 5, 2013

Historical Examples of whirlwind

And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
It mingled with my dreams, and made them full of storm and whirlwind.
Other Tales and Sketches
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The rush and blows passed with the fury of a whirlwind, and the swiftness of lightning.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
The onset and the issue were like the passage and destruction of a whirlwind.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the north.
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier

British Dictionary definitions for whirlwind

whirlwind

noun

a column of air whirling around and towards a more or less vertical axis of low pressure, which moves along the land or ocean surface
1. a motion or course resembling this, esp in rapidity
2. (as modifier)a whirlwind romance
an impetuously active person

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 whirlwind

mid-14c., from whirl (v.) + wind (n.), probably on model of Old Norse hvirfilvindr.