▪ I. † ˈwhirlpool1 Obs.
Also 6 wherpole, w(h)orpoul, etc.
[app. an alteration, by popular etymology, of thirlepoll, q.v.]
? The large blowing whale.
| c 1450 Brut ii. 603 Ther wer sene in þe Temys at Londen, many whyrlepolys, & anoþer tyme a whale. 1508 Stanbridge Vulgaria (W. de W.) B j, Balena, a whyrlepole. 1541 in Lincoln Chapter Acts II. 49 (Linc. Rec. Soc. XII.), Sturgion, seale, porpoise, wherpole, and such like. 1558 Gesner Hist. Anim. iv. 853. 1601 Holland Pliny ix. iii. I. 235 The Whales and Whirlepooles called Balænæ. 1678 Yng. Man's Call. 301 At Quinborough three great dolphins were taken,..and a while after three other fishes, called whirlpools were taken at Gravesend. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. xxxiii. 131 A huge monstrous Physetere, a sort of a Whale (which some call a Whirl pool). |
▪ II. whirlpool2
(ˈhwɜːlpuːl)
Also 6 whirpole, whoorlpool, etc.
[f. whirl- + pool n.1 Cf. late OE. hwyrfepól and wirfelmere.]
1. a. A place in, or part of, a river or the sea, where the water is in constant (and usually rapid) circular movement, due to the configuration of the channel or bottom, to some obstruction, or to the meeting of adverse currents or wind and tide; a (large and violent) eddy or vortex.
| 1530 Palsgr. 288/1 Whirpole a depe place in a ryver, where the water tourneth rounde. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 75 Many whorlepooles and shelfes. 1613 J. Saris Voy. Japan (Hakl. Soc.) 66 Drowned in a wherlpoole. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xi. 94 A guilty conscience is like a whirlpool, drawing in all to it self which otherwise would passe by. 1774 Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772, 359 Eddies and whirlpools rising..with furious boilings. 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) I. 150 The river of Caubul..forms numerous rapids and whirlpools. 1880 Geikie Phys. Geog. iii. 154 Where the tide is thrown from side to side against sunken rocks, or where two opposing currents meet.., the water forms whirlpools. |
| transf. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 30 The whirl-pool of the spirits in the blood. 1799 W. Tooke View Russ. Emp. I. 65 Which..buries both men and cattle in whirl⁓pools of snow and sand. 1903 A. M. Clerke Probl. Astrophysics 446 Those cosmic ‘whirlpools’, every trait of which testifies to the counterplay of multiple activities. |
b. fig. in various applications: esp. a destructive or absorbing agency by which something is figured as engulfed or swallowed up; a scene of confused and turbulent activity.
| 1529 S. Fish Supplic. Beggers 10 Howe all the substaunce of your Realme..rynneth hedlong ynto the insaciabill whyrlepole of these gredi goulafres. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 63 Drowned in the whirlepoole of obliuion. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. lxix. 4 In y⊇ deepest whoorlpools of aduersities, faith may hold vs vp. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. x. Wks. 1851 III. 307 The non-resident..Prelats, the gulphs and whirle pooles of benefices, but the dry pits of all sound doctrine. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 419 In the middest of the Whirl-pooles of Change. a 1704 T. Brown Walk round Lond., Coffee-Houses (1709) 36 The Whirl-pool of Poetry suck'd me in, and I fell a Rhiming. 1831 James Phil. Augustus xliii, What a whirlpool of contending feelings! 1863 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xxii, You may revolve in a whirlpool of red shirts, shaggy beards [etc.]. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. xcvii. III. 362 Europeans..have assumed..that public life will draw..enough of the highest ability into its whirlpool. |
c. A bath or pool with underwater jets of hot, usu. aerated, water, used for purposes of physiotherapy or relaxation; also, a pumping unit for producing such jets. orig. U.S.
| 1975 Sports Illustrated Aug. 41 Sportswriters let you know they are on such intimate terms with an athlete that they can interview him in ‘the whirlpool’. Ibid. 42/3 Last year Underwriters' Laboratories..dropped its long-standing approval of portable whirlpools whose unit, motor and all, goes into the water. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 16 June 8-a/3 (Advt.), Relaxing, soothing whirlpool... Directional nozzle, aerator, timer, handle. 1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. d17/2 (Advt.), Entertainment and dancing in the Wharf Lounge. Indoor pool, sauna, whirlpool, charming restaurants. 1980 D. Williams Murder for Treasure ix. 86 The heated indoor whirlpool..measures twelve feet across. 1985 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 6 Apr. 1024/1 The whirlpool or Jacuzzi is a North American invention which has flourished there since the early 1970s but has only recently been introduced into Britain. Hot water is agitated mechanically through pressurised jets in a large tub and gives the bather a pleasurable sensation. Bathing in the company of others is usual. |
2. attrib. and Comb.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. ii, They have..sunke the tossed galleasse in depth Of whirlepoole scorne. 1647 H. More Song of Soul iv. Oracle 34 Bitter wave of troubled flesh, And whirl-pool-turnings of the lower spright. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. iii. 159 To recoyl by a double whirl⁓pool-motion. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 6 Mar. 6/2 The whirl⁓pool rapids [of the Niagara]. |
b. (In sense 1 c above.)
| 1950 Life & Health Oct. 8/2 Whirlpool baths have stimulating effects. 1972 ‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) xii. 113 It's more like a country club..saunas and whirlpool baths, cocktail bars and singles nights. 1975 Sports Illustrated Aug. 42/2 Doctors generally agree on the salubrious effects of whirlpool therapy. 1978 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 13 June tm 88/1 Jacuzzi Bros Inc., Little Rock, Ark... Jacuzzi... For hydro-therapy products..therapeutic whirlpool baths and parts thereof. 1984 Miami Herald 6 Apr. 15d/5 (Advt.), Bayside pool, sundeck and whirlpool spa. 1984 Listener 19 July 17/4 (Advt.), For couples who want to get away together..4 poster beds, water beds—with whirlpool bath en suite. |
Hence ˈwhirlpooling ppl. a., circling or eddying like a whirlpool.
| a 1861 T. Winthrop Life in Open Air (1863) 48 A birch [canoe]..lies, light as a leaf, on whirlpooling surfaces. |