whirlwind, n.
(ˈhwɜːlwɪnd)
[f. whirl- + wind n., prob. after ON. hvirfilvindr (obs. Da. hverrelwind, Da. hvirvelwind, Sw. virvelvind), whence Du. wervelwind, G. wirbelwind.]
1. A whirling or rotating wind; an atmospheric eddy or vortex; a body of air moving rapidly in a circular or upward spiral course around a vertical or slightly inclined axis which has also a progressive motion over the surface of land or water.
In its larger forms it constitutes a violent and destructive storm, as a cyclone or tornado; over a body of water it sometimes causes a waterspout, over a sandy or dusty region a sand-pillar or dust-whirl.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter Cant. 511 Cumand as whirlwynd to skatire me. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 159 Sodenly a whirlewynd comynge caste doun the dores. a 1400 Gloss. in Rel. Ant. I. 6/2 Turbo, the qwyrlewynde. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 321 Þe fend flow away in liknes of a whorle-wynd. 1585 Forman Argt. (MS. Ashm. 208, lf. 239 b) Elyas was taken up Within a whorrell-winde. 1596 Edw. III, iii. i, As when a wherle winde takes the Summer dust And scatters it. 1611 Bible Job xxxviii. 1 Then the Lord answered Iob out of the whirlewind. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Giddinesse iv, As if a whirlwinde blew And crusht the building. 1706 Prior Ode to Queen vii, Swift as the Whirlwind drives Arabia's scatter'd Sands. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 207 The loud torrent, and the whirlwind's roar. 1858 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea ii. §94 All boys are familiar with miniature whirlwinds on shore,..sweeping along the roads.., raising columns of dust, leaves, etc., which..gyrate about the..axis of the storm. 1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma viii, Herds of buffaloes..rushed, like a whirlwind themselves,..towards the shelter of the thickets. |
2. transf. and
fig. Something rushing impetuously like a whirlwind; a violent or destructive agency; a confused and tumultuous process or condition.
to sow the wind and reap the whirlwind (
Hos. viii. 7): to indulge in reckless wickedness or folly, and suffer the disastrous consequences.
| 1382 Wyclif Hosea viii. 7 Thei shuln sowe wynd, and repe whirlwynd. 1590 Tarlton's Newes Purgatorie 3 Either a mans soule must in post haste goe presently to God, or else with a whirlewind and a vengeance goe to the diuell. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xv. iv. 35 A tempestuous whirlewind of new calamities. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 77 O'rewhelm'd With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire. 1714 [Blanch] Beaux Merchant ii. 18 What my Landlady put into her Soup, I can't tell; but..I had a Whirlwind in my Belly. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf xviii, It is sowing the wind to reap the whirlwind. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxviii, Mr. Pickwick concluded amidst a whirlwind of applause. 1840 Alison Hist. Eur. lxii. VIII. 353 The foot soldiers in the rear..were instantly enveloped by a whirlwind of horse. 1855 Kingsley Glaucus 3 Free from the cares of town business, and the whirlwind of town pleasure. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xii. 699 To see whether they who had raised the storm could ride the whirlwind. 1918 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Mar. 139/1 The verbal whirlwind of his [sc. Swinburne's] later utterance. |
3. attrib. Of or pertaining to a whirlwind; resembling a whirlwind, violent, impetuous;
spec. applied to something done in great haste.
| 1614 Gorges Lucan v. 199 Rockes..ouerturn'd with whirle-wind shocks. 1750 Gray Long Story 60 Upstairs in a whirlwind rattle. 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 120 With a whirlwind impetuosity he rushes forth. 1865 Parkman Huguenots ix. (1875) 157 A whirlwind visitation—to ravage, ruin, and vanish. 1942 [see romance n. 5]. 1952 J. L. Waten Alien Son 87 Auntie Fanny lived her own life, never commenting on her husband's whirlwind comings and goings. 1969 ‘D. Shannon’ Crime on their Hands vii. 99 We only got engaged last week. It was a whirlwind romance. 1977 D. E. Westlake Nobody's Perfect 65 Jet-setter Arnold Chauncey, just back from his whirlwind tour of Brasilia. 1984 Times 20 Feb. 10/2 His whirlwind investigation of NHS management. |
4. Comb., as
whirlwind-footed,
whirlwind-peopled,
whirlwind-rifted adjs.;
whirlwind-like adj. and
adv.| 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iii. 77 *Whirlwind-footed coursers. 1876 Swinburne Erechtheus 433 A whirlwind-footed bridegroom. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. Handycrafts 448 The flying ayre he catches, Born *whirl⁓winde-like. 1670 Dryden Tyrannick Love v. i, Who..Whirlwind-like, around him drove the Air. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. i. ii, Democracy announcing,..that she is born, and whirlwind-like, will envelope the whole world. 1840 Chamb. Jrnl. 18 Apr. 104/2 He had heard a whirlwind-like noise. |
| 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 204 'Mid *whirlwind-peopled mountains. |
| 1818 ― Rosal. & Helen 1158 *Whirlwind-rifted clouds. |
Hence (
nonce-wds.)
ˈwhirlwind v., intr. to rush impetuously like a whirlwind;
ˈwhirlwindish,
ˈwhirlwindy adjs., resembling a whirlwind.
| 1892 Black Wolfenberg xxii, Thus bereft of her usual whirlwindish activity. 1894 ‘Mark Twain’ Let. 22 Dec. (1917) II. 617 These salvation-notions that were whirl-winding through my head. 1895 Holman-Hunt in Daily News 14 Aug. 6/2 Paris, where young professors go whirlwinding in what they call study for a time. 1903 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 473/1 Its whirlwindy approach. |