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Definition: Whirlwind |
WhirlwindNoun1. A more or less vertical column of air whirling around itself as it moves over the surface of the Earth. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "whirlwind" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Etymology: Whirlwind \Whirl"wind`\, noun. [Compare to Icelandic hvirfilvindr, Swedish hvirfvelvind, Danish hvirvelvind, German wirbelwind. See Whirl, and Wind, noun.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Dream Interpretation | To dream that you are in the path of a whirlwind, foretells that you are confronting a change which threatens to overwhelm you with loss and calamity. For a young woman to dream that she is caught in a whirlwind and has trouble to keep her skirts from blowing up and entangling her waist, denotes that she will carry on a secret flirtation and will be horrified to find that scandal has gotten possession of her name and she will run a close risk of disgrace and ostracism. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Geography | A rapidly rotating column of air, produced by local heating and convectional uprising. Source: European Union. (references) |
| General term for a small-scale rotating column of air. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Physics | Limited region in which air revolves rapidly round a core of low pressure, sometimes extending upwards many hundreds of feet. Source: European Union. (references) |
Public Administration | A small column of air that rotates as it advances. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Whirlwind."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Agitation | Ferment, fermentation; ebullition, effervescence, hurly-burly, cahotage; tempest, storm, ground swell, heavy sea, whirlpool, vortex; whirlwind; (wind). |
Authority | Have the upper hand, get the upper hand, have the whip, get the whip; gain a hold upon, preponderate, dominate, rule the roost; boss; override, overrule, overawe; lord it over, hold in hand, keep under, make a puppet of, lead by the nose, turn round one's little finger, bend to one's will, hold one's own, wear the breeches; have the ball at one's feet, have it all one's own way, have the game in one's own hand, have on the hip, have under one's thumb; be master of the situation; take the lead, play first fiddle, set the fashion; give the law to; carry with a high hand; lay down the law; "ride in the whirlwind and direct the storm"; rule with a rod of iron; (severity). |
Disorder | Turmoil; ferment; (agitation); to-do, trouble, pudder, pother, row, rumble, disturbance, hubbub, convulsion, tumult, uproar, revolution, riot, rumpus, stour, scramble, brawl, fracas, rhubarb, fight, free-for-all, row, ruction, rumpus, embroilment, melee, spill and pelt, rough and tumble; whirlwind; bear garden, Babel, Saturnalia, donnybrook, Donnybrook Fair, confusion worse confounded, most admired disorder, concordia discors; Bedlam, all hell broke loose; bull in a china shop; all the fat in the fire, diable a' quatre, Devil to pay; pretty kettle of fish; pretty piece of work, pretty piece of business. |
Effect | Take the consequences, sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. |
Failure | Be all over with, be all up with; explode; dash one's hopes; (disappoint); defeat the purpose; sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, go from the frying pan into the fire. |
Resolution | Stick at nothing, stop at nothing; make short work of; (activity); not stick at trifles; go all lengths, go the limit, go the whole hog; persist; (persevere) a; go through fire and water, ride the tiger, ride in the whirlwind and direct the storm. |
Rotation | Cyclone; tornado, whirlwind; dust devil. |
Wind | Gust, blast, squall, gale, half a gale, storm, tempest, hurricane, whirlwind, tornado, samiel, cyclone, anticyclone, typhoon; simoon, simoom; harmattan, monsoon, trade wind, sirocco, mistral, bise, tramontane, levanter; capful of wind; fresh breeze, stiff breeze; keen blast; blizzard, barber, candelia, chinook, foehn, khamsin, norther, vendaval, wuther. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Whirlwind |
| English words defined with "whirlwind": dust devil ♦ Eddy ♦ Hurlwind ♦ twist ♦ Willywaw. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "whirlwind": Coral Beads ♦ Laning and Zierler ♦ mercury delay line, MIT Research Laboratory for Electronics ♦ SUMMER SESSION ♦ Whirlwind. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "whirlwind": Hurlwind ♦ Tourbillion. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Not yet caught by the whirlwind of Progress. (The Beast of Yucca Flats; writing credit: Coleman Francis) You will become that storm; the whirlwind! And nothing will be able to stop you, not even yourself! (Children of Dune; writing credit: Frank Herbert; John Harrison) I am the whirlwind. (Dune; writing credit: John Harrison) | |
Lyrics | My life has been such a whirlwind since I saw you. (Can't Fight This Feeling; performing artist: REO Speedwagon) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Whirlwind (1974) Ride in the Whirlwind (1965) Whirlwind (1951) Arizona Whirlwind (1944) The Little Whirlwind (1941) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Music |
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Consumer Goods |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | The whirlwind of fire attacked Yoshiwara street / S.K.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Assembly and Repairs Dept. mechanic Mary Josephine Farley works on a Wright Whirlwind motor, Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Rowdy Boy, the black whirlwind of the pacing quartette of 1879 / J.C.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Hoyt's comic whirlwind, A brass monkey a satire on superstition.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Hoyt's comic whirlwind, A brass monkey a satire on superstition.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Hoyt's comic whirlwind, A brass monkey a satire on superstition.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Hoyt's comic whirlwind, A brass monkey a satire on superstition.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Hoyt's comic whirlwind, A brass monkey a satire on superstition.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Hoyt's comic whirlwind, A brass monkey a satire on superstition.Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Joseph Addison | Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Make thought a whirlwind. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Indonesia | Companies that have made a commitment to the country by establishing an office, or some other significant presence, will be more successful in marketing their products than those that attempt to sell their product on annual whirlwind trips. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Whirlwind" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.24% of the time. "Whirlwind" is used about 147 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 95.24% | 140 | 26,789 |
| Noun (proper) | 4.08% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 0.68% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 147 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "whirlwind": ride in the whirlwind and direct the storm ♦ sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "whirlwind"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | vorbull ere (dust devil), shakullinë (Eddy, vortex). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | زوبعة (cyclone, fanfare, gust, hurricane, storm, tornado), ريح دوامية. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | вихър (gale, vortex, whirl), вихрушка (backset, vortex, whirl). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 飆 , 颮 , 猋 (it depends, think, to guard, to look after, to look at, to see, to take care of, to watch), 旋风 (Cyclone), 旋風 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | vichřice (gale, hurricane), tornádo (tornado). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | hvirvelvind (wind eddy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | windhoos, wervelwind (wind eddy). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | kirlovento. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | hvirla. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | گردباد (Cyclone, Hurricane, Tornado, Twister, Typhoon), وابسته به گردباد. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | tuulispää (gust, squall), pyörretuuli (Eddy wind). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | tourbillon (whirl, whirlpool, whirlpools). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Wirbelwind (cyclone), Wirbelsturm (cyclone, hurricane). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | στρόβιλοσ (scurry, swirl, turbine, twirl, vortex, whirl), ανεμοστρόβιλοσ (cyclone, hurricane, tornado, twister, typhoon), ανεμοστρόβιλος (tornado), δίνη αέρα (air vortex), δίνη (eddy, maelstrom, swirl, vortex, whirl, whirlpool). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | טורנאדו (hurricane, tornado, twister), סופה (gale, hurricane, storm, tempest). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | forgószél (cyclonic storm, hurricane, scurry, tornado, typhoon). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | turbine (drift, swirl, whirl). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 旋風 (sensation). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | つむじかぜ (sensation), せんぷう (sensation). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 회오리바람. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | geay chassee (tornado), feer tappee. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Maya | mosoon. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | irlwindwhay turbilhão de vento (tornado, twister, wind eddy), remoinho de vento, remoinho (purl, swirl), redemoinho de vento, furação (flaw, hurricane, tornado, vortex). (various references) volburã (Eddy, gulf, whirl, whirlpool), vârtej de vânt, vântoasã, trombã (spout), trâmbã (puff, sandstorm, troop). (various references) смерч (tornado), вихрь (curl, maelstrom, merry go round, reel, squall, swirl, twirl, vortex, whirl). (various references) vihor (vortex). (various references) torbellino (maelstrom, swirl, whirl, whirlpool, whirlpools). (various references) virvelvind (cyclone, whirwind). (various references) kasırga (cyclone, hurricane, squall, storm, tornado, twister, typhoon), hortum (cyclone, Eddy, elephant's trunk, hose, hose pipe, proboscis, snout, tornado, twister, water hose), hızlı tip, çabuk kimse. (various references) смерч, вихор (cowlick, maelstrom, swirl, twirl, whirl). (various references) cn gió cuốn. (various references) trowynt (tornado), corwynt (hurricane, tornado). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | typhon. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | turbine, turbinem, turbines, turbinibus, turbinis, turbo, typhon. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Proverbs Chapter 10, Verse 25 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | ParaporeuomenhV kataigidoV afanizetai asebhV dikaioV de ekklinaV swzetai eiV ton aiwna |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Quasi tempestas transiens non erit impius iustus autem quasi fundamentum sempiternum |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Þa storm is gewiten ne sind þa yfla na ma,ac þa rihtwisan stemnettað a. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | As tempest passende, shal be the vnpitouse; the riytwise forsothe as euere durende ground. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | When the storm-wind is past, the sinner is seen no longer, but the upright man is safe for ever. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Proverbs Chapter 10, Verse 25 |
| Cebuano | Sa paglabay sa alimpulos ang dautan mahanaw; Apan ang matarung maoy usa ka patukoranan nga walay katapusan. |
| Croatian | Kad oluja prohuja, opakoga nestane, a pravednik ima temelj vjeèni. |
| Danish | Når Storm farer frem, er den gudløse borte, den retfærdige står på evig Grund. |
| Dutch | Gelijk een wervelwind voorbijgaat, alzo is de goddeloze niet meer; maar de rechtvaardige is een eeuwige grondvest. |
| Finnish | Tuulispään käytyä ei jumalatonta enää ole, mutta vanhurskaan perustus pysyy iäti. |
| French | Comme passe le tourbillon, ainsi disparaît le méchant; Mais le juste a des fondements éternels. |
| German | Der Gottlose ist wie ein Wetter, das vorübergeht und nicht mehr ist; der Gerechte aber besteht ewiglich. |
| Haitian Creole | Depi move tan pase, mechan yo disparèt lamenm. Men, moun k'ap mache dwat yo ap toujou kanpe fèm. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Jika topan melanda, lenyaplah orang jahat; tetapi orang jujur tetap teguh selamanya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Seperti puting beliung yang lalu dengan segeranya, demikianpun hal orang jahat, tetapi orang yang benar itu bagaikan alas rumah yang kekal. |
| Italian | Al passaggio della bufera l'empio cessa di essere, ma il giusto resterà saldo per sempre. |
| Maori | Pahure rawa ake te tukauati kua kore te hunga kino: tena ko te tangata tika he turanga pumau tera. |
| Norwegian | Når en storm farer forbi, så er den ugudelige ikke mere; men den rettferdige har en evig grunnvoll. |
| Portuguese | Como passa a tempestade, assim desaparece o impio; mas o justo tem fundamentos eternos. |
| Rumanian | Cum trece vkrtejul, awa piere cel rqu; dar cel neprihqnit are temelii vecinice. - |
| Spanish | Como cuando pasa la tempestad, así el impío no permanece; pero el justo tiene fundamentos eternos. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "whirlwind": whirlwinds. (additional references) | |
| |
"Whirlwind" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: whirwind. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "whirlwind" (pronounced wer"lwi'nd or hwer"lwi'nd) |
| 4 | -w i' n d | headwind, sequined, woodwind. |
| 3 | -i' n d | underpinned, undisciplined. |
| 4 | -w i' n d | headwind, sequined, woodwind. |
| 3 | -i' n d | underpinned, undisciplined. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-h-i-i-l-n-r-w-w" | |
-4 letters: indri, nihil, whirl. | |
-5 letters: dirl, hili, hind, irid, liri, nidi, rind, whid, whin, whir, wild, wind. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-h-i-i-l-n-r-w-w" | |
+1 letter: whirlwinds. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)57 68 69 72 6C 77 69 6E 64 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).--. .... .. .-. .-.. .--. .. -. -.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "whirlwind" |
