vortex

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: vor=tex

CIDE DICTIONARY

vortex, n. [L. vortex, vertex, -icis, fr. vortere, vertere, to turn. See Vertex.].

•  A mass of fluid, especially of a liquid, having a whirling or circular motion tending to form a cavity or vacuum in the center of the circle, and to draw in towards the center bodies subject to its action; the form assumed by a fluid in such motion; a whirlpool; an eddy.  [1913 Webster]
•  A supposed collection of particles of very subtile matter, endowed with a rapid rotary motion around an axis which was also the axis of a sun or a planet. Descartes attempted to account for the formation of the universe, and the movements of the bodies composing it, by a theory of vortices.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any one of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to Vortex and allied genera. See Illustration in Appendix.  [1913 Webster]

Vortex atom (Chem.), a hypothetical ring-shaped mass of elementary matter in continuous vortical motion. It was conveniently regarded in certain early mathematical models as the typical form and structure of the chemical atom, but is no longer considered a useful model, having been superseded by quantum mechanics. -- Vortex wheel, a kind of turbine.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

vortex, n. (pl. vortexes or vortices)
1 a mass of whirling fluid, esp. a whirlpool or whirlwind.
2 any whirling motion or mass.
3 a system, occupation, pursuit, etc., viewed as swallowing up or engrossing those who approach it (the vortex of society).
4 Physics a portion of fluid whose particles have rotatory motion.

Idiom

vortex-ring a vortex whose axis is a closed curve, e.g. a smoke-ring.

Derivative

vortical adj. vortically adv. vorticity n. vorticose adj. vorticular adj.

Etymology

L vortex -icis eddy, var. of VERTEX

THESAURUS

vortex

Charybdis, Maelstrom, ado, agitation, back stream, backflow, backwash, backwater, bother, botheration, brouhaha, burst, bustle, cirrus, coil, commotion, condensation trail, contrail, corkscrew, countercurrent, counterflow, counterflux, curl, curlicue, disturbance, dizzy round, ebullience, ebullition, eddy, effervescence, embroilment, evolute, exhaust, feery-fary, ferment, fermentation, fidgetiness, fit, flap, flurry, fluster, flutter, flutteriness, fume, fuss, fussiness, gulf, gurge, gyre, helix, hubbub, hullabaloo, hurly-burly, hurry, hurry-scurry, involute, kink, maelstrom, pell-mell, perturbation, pirouette, pother, rat race, reel, refluence, reflux, regurgitation, restlessness, ringlet, roll, round, ruffle, scramble, screw, scroll, spasm, spin, spiral, spout, spurt, stew, stir, stream, surge, sweat, swirl, swirling, tendril, to-do, tumult, turbulence, turmoil, turn, twirl, twist, unquiet, uproar, vapor trail, volute, volution, wake, wash, wheel, whirl, whirlpool, whirlwind, whorl, yeastiness

ROGET THESAURUS

vortex

Rotation

N rotation, revolution, spinning, gyration, turning about an axis, turning aound an axis, circulation, roll, circumrotation, circumvolution, circumgyration, volutation, circination, turbination, pirouette, convolution, verticity, whir, whirl, eddy, vortex, whirlpool, gurge, countercurrent, Maelstrom, Charybdis, Ixion, cyclone, tornado, whirlwind, dust devil, spin-out, axis, axis of rotation, swivel, pivot, pivot point, axle, spindle, pin, hinge, pole, arbor, bobbin, mandrel, axle shaft, gymbal, hub, hub of rotation, helix, helical motion, angular momentum, angular velocity, revolutions per minute, RPM, centrifugal force, surge, vertigo, dizzy round, coriolus force, carousel, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, top, dreidel, teetotum, gyroscope, turntable, lazy suzan, screw, whirligig, rollingstone, water wheel, windmill, wheel, pulley wheel, roulette wheel, potter's wheel, pinwheel, gear, roller, flywheel, jack, caster, centrifuge, ultracentrifuge, bench centrifuge, refrigerated centrifuge, gas centrifuge, microfuge, drill, augur, oil rig, wagon wheel, wheel, tire, tyre, trochilics, whirling dervish, rotating, rotary, rotary, circumrotatory, trochilic, vertiginous, gyratory, vortical, vorticose, head over heels, round and round, like a horse in a mill.

Agitation

N agitation, stir, tremor, shake, ripple, jog, jolt, jar, jerk, shock, succussion, trepidation, quiver, quaver, dance, jactitation, quassation, shuffling, twitter, flicker, flutter, turbulence, perturbation, commotion, turmoil, disquiet, tumult, tumultuation, hubbub, rout, bustle, fuss, racket, subsultus, staggers, megrims, epilepsy, fits, carphology, chorea, floccillation, the jerks, St. Vitus's dance, tilmus, spasm, throe, throb, palpitation, convulsion, disturbance, chaos, restlessness, ferment, fermentation, ebullition, effervescence, hurly-burly, cahotage, tempest, storm, ground swell, heavy sea, whirlpool, vortex, whirlwind, shaking, agitated tremulous, desultory, subsultory, saltatoric, quasative, shambling, giddy-paced, saltatory, convulsive, unquiet, restless, all of a twitter, by fits and starts, subsultorily, per saltum, hop skip and jump, in convulsions, in fits, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

River

N river, running water, jet, spirt, spurt, squirt, spout, spray, splash, rush, gush, jet d'eau, sluice, water spout, water fall, cascade, force, foss, lin, linn, ghyll, Niagara, cataract, rapids, white water, catadupe, cataclysm, debacle, inundation, deluge, chute, washout, rain, rainfall, serein, shower, scud, downpour, driving rain, drenching rain, cloudburst, hyetology, hyetography, predominance of Aquarius, reign of St. Swithin, mizzle, drizzle, stillicidum, plash, dropping, falling weather, northeaster, hurricane, typhoon, stream, course, flux, flow, profluence, effluence, defluxion, flowing, current, tide, race, coulee, spring, artesian well, fount, fountain, rill, rivulet, gill, gullet, rillet, streamlet, brooklet, branch, runnel, sike, burn, beck, creek, brook, bayou, stream, river, reach, tributary, geyser, spout, waterspout, body of water, torrent, rapids, flush, flood, swash, spring tide, high tide, full tide, bore, tidal bore, eagre, hygre, fresh, freshet, indraught, reflux, undercurrent, eddy, vortex, gurge, whirlpool, Maelstrom, regurgitation, overflow, confluence, corrivation, wave, billow, surge, swell, ripple, anerythmon gelasma, beach comber, riffle, rollers, ground swell, surf, breakers, white horses, whitecaps, rough sea, heavy sea, high seas, cross sea, long sea, short sea, chopping sea, hydrodynamics, hydraulics, hydraulicostatics, rain gauge, flowmeter, pegology, irrigation, pump, watering pot, watering cart, hydrant, syringe, garden hose, lawn spray, bhisti, mussuk, fluent, diffluent, profluent, affluent, tidal, flowing, meandering, meandry, meandrous, fluvial, fluviatile, streamy, showery, rainy, pluvial, stillicidous, stillatitious, for men may come and men may go but I go on foreve, that old man river, he just keeps rolling along.