Library / English Dictionary

EDDY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: eddied   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself

Synonyms:

eddy; twist

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("eddy" is a kind of...):

current; stream (a steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes))

Derivation:

eddy (flow in a circular current, of liquids)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Founder of Christian Science in 1866 (1821-1910)

Synonyms:

Eddy; Mary Baker Eddy; Mary Morse Baker Eddy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

religious person (a person who manifests devotion to a deity)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Flow in a circular current, of liquids

Synonyms:

eddy; purl; swirl; whirl; whirlpool

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "eddy" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

eddy (a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"In our new observations it is apparent very small eddies are feeding into the storm," said Simon.

(Jupiter's great red spot is shrinking, NASA)

My eyes were covered and closed: eddying darkness seemed to swim round me, and reflection came in as black and confused a flow.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The wind came now in fierce bursts, and the snow was driven with fury as it swept upon us in circling eddies.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

That was the funeral oration of one friend and client; and he could not help a certain apprehension lest the good name of another should be sucked down in the eddy of the scandal.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Our chimney was a square hole in the roof; it was but a little part of the smoke that found its way out, and the rest eddied about the house and kept us coughing and piping the eye.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The researchers analyzed owl-inspired feather wing models with and without leading edge serrations, by combining large-eddy simulations – a mathematical model for turbulence used in computational fluid dynamics to simulate air flows – and Particle-Image Velocimetry (PIV) and force measurements in a low-speed wind tunnel.

(Owls' Wings Key to Beating Wind Turbine Noise, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It is a picture, and I can see it now,—the jagged edges of the hole in the side of the cabin, through which the grey fog swirled and eddied; the empty upholstered seats, littered with all the evidences of sudden flight, such as packages, hand satchels, umbrellas, and wraps; the stout gentleman who had been reading my essay, encased in cork and canvas, the magazine still in his hand, and asking me with monotonous insistence if I thought there was any danger; the red-faced man, stumping gallantly around on his artificial legs and buckling life-preservers on all comers; and finally, the screaming bedlam of women.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"We think that’s why they show a clear preference for warm-water eddies."

(Blue sharks use ocean eddies as fast-tracks to food, National Science Foundation)

Long time the silent ranks upon the hill could see a swirl and eddy deep down in the heart of the Spanish column, with a circle of rearing chargers and flashing blades.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They were of the same large type as Thornton, living close to the earth, thinking simply and seeing clearly; and ere they swung the raft into the big eddy by the saw-mill at Dawson, they understood Buck and his ways, and did not insist upon an intimacy such as obtained with Skeet and Nig.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)