whirlwind

4 definitions found

whirlwind - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Whirlwind \Whirl"wind`\, n. [Cf. Icel. hvirfilvindr, Sw.
     hvirfvelvind, Dan. hvirvelvind, G. wirbelwind. See Whirl,
     and Wind, n.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado,
        characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with
        an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It
        usually has a rapid progressive motion.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The swift dark whirlwind that uproots the woods.
              And drowns the villages.              --Bryant.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Some meteorologists apply the word whirlwind to the
           larger rotary storm also, such as cyclones.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Fig.: A body of objects sweeping violently onward. "The
        whirlwind of hounds and hunters." --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]

whirlwind - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  whirlwind
      n 1: a more or less vertical column of air whirling around
           itself as it moves over the surface of the Earth

whirlwind - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  Whirlwind
  
     <computer> An early computer from the MIT Research Laboratory for Electronics
     .
  
     Whirlwind used electrostatic memory and ran Laning and Zierler
      (1953); and ALGEBRAIC, COMPREHENSIVE and SUMMER SESSION
      (all 1959).
  
     [Details, reference?]
  
     (2002-06-03)
  

whirlwind - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  58 Moby Thesaurus words for "whirlwind":
     Charybdis, ado, baguio, blaze, burst, bustle, convulsion, cyclone,
     dizzy round, dust devil, eddy, eruption, explosion, fit, flare-up,
     flurry, furore, fuss, gale, gurge, gust, gyre, hurricane,
     irruption, maelstrom, outbreak, outburst, paroxysm, pirouette,
     pother, rainspout, rat race, reel, rotary storm, round,
     sand column, sandspout, seizure, spasm, spin, storm, surge, swirl,
     tempest, tornado, turn, twirl, twister, typhoon, upheaval, vortex,
     waterspout, wheel, whirl, whirlblast, whirlpool, whirly,
     wind eddy