WHIRLPOOL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Whirlpool

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/wˈərlpˌul/ /hwˈərlpˌul/ Listen

noun

Whirlpool n.

An eddy or vortex of water; a place in a body of water where the water moves round in a circle so as to produce a depression or cavity in the center, into which floating objects may be drawn; any body of water having a more or less circular motion caused by its flowing in an irregular channel, by the coming together of opposing currents, or the like.

A sea monster of the whale kind. (Obs.) "The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are; among which the whales and whirlpools, called "balaenae," take up in length as much as four... arpents of land."

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Etymology of 'Whirlpool'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Whirlpool" Quotes from Famous Books

... and gaud, instead of glory, surround, rejoice, and flatter thee to the last. There rise thy buildings; there lie, secret but gorgeous, the tabernacles of thine ease; and the earnings of thy friends, and the riches of the people whom they plunder, are waters to thine imperial whirlpool. Thou art lapped in ease, as is a silkworm; and profusion flows from thy high and unseen asylum as the rain poureth from a cloud.—Much didst thou do to beautify chimney-tops, much to adorn the snuggeries where thou didst dwell. Thieving with thee took a substantial shape; ...

— Paul Clifford, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... I can explain it to you," the weather expert replied. "You know that when water is running down a hole at the bottom of a basin, if it is in motion it doesn't go down straight but with a circular movement, finally making a whirlpool?" ...

— The Boy with the U. S. Weather Men • Francis William Rolt-Wheeler

... of fear The battle's tide was poured; Vanished the Saxon's struggling spear, Vanished the mountain-sword. As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, Receives her roaring linn As the dark caverns of the deep Suck the wild whirlpool in, So did the deep and darksome pass Devour the battle's mingled mass; None linger now upon the plain Save those who ne'er shall ...

— The Lady of the Lake • Sir Walter Scott

... forms with it the two Barents Islands.[135] At the west end of these two running waters, that is, where they come together to the east of these islands, they make, with the rocks and reefs, such a frightful eddy and whirlpool that it is exceedingly dangerous to pass through them, especially with small boats, of which there are some lost every now and then, and the persons in them drowned; but experience has taught men the way of passing through them with less danger. Large vessels have always less ...

— Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-1680 • Jasper Danckaerts

... for I tell you beforehand, I do not wish to be convinced; I have gone so far I cannot recede; I have suffered so much, death itself would be a boon. I no longer love to madness, Raoul, I am being engulfed by a whirlpool ...

— Ten Years Later - Chapters 1-104 • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

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