vortex

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vor·tex

(vôr′tĕks′)

n. pl. vor·tex·es or vor·ti·ces (-tĭ-sēz′)

1. A whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center.

2. A place or situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it, and hence being inescapable or destructive: a vortex of political infighting; a vortex of despair.

[Latin vortex, vortic-, variant of vertex, from vertere, to turn; see wer- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vortex

(ˈvɔːtɛks)

n, pl -texes or -tices (-tɪˌsiːz)

1. (General Physics) a whirling mass or rotary motion in a liquid, gas, flame, etc, such as the spiralling movement of water around a whirlpool

2. any activity, situation, or way of life regarded as irresistibly engulfing

[C17: from Latin: a whirlpool; variant of vertex]

ˈvortical adj

ˈvortically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vor•tex

(ˈvɔr tɛks)

n., pl. -tex•es, -ti•ces (-təˌsiz)

1. a whirling mass of water, esp. one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool.

2. a whirling mass of air, esp. one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado.

3. a whirling mass of fire, flame, etc.

4. something likened to a whirlpool, as in violent activity or the tendency to draw into its current everything that surrounds it.

[1645–55; < Latin, variant of vertex]

vor·tex

(vôr′tĕks′)

Plural vortexes or vortices (vôr′tĭ-sēz′)

A mass of whirling fluid, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center. Eddies and whirlpools are examples of vortexes.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun	1.	vortex - the shape of something rotating rapidly convolution, swirl, whirl round shape - a shape that is curved and without sharp angles
	2.	vortex - a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides) maelstrom, whirlpool current, stream - a steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes); "the raft floated downstream on the current"; "he felt a stream of air"; "the hose ejected a stream of water" Charybdis - (Greek mythology) a ship-devouring whirlpool lying on the other side of a narrow strait from Scylla

vortex

noun whirlpool, eddy, maelstrom, Charybdis (literary), gyre, countercurrent a vortex of encircling winds

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

Wirbel

vortico

remolino

kitanielupyörrepyörremyrsky

tourbillon vortex

vortice

espiral funil furacão redemoinho sorvedouro

вихрь водоворот воронка

vortex

[ˈvɔːteks] N (vortexes or vortices (pl)) [ˈvɔːtɪsiːz]

1. (lit) → vórtice m, torbellino m

2. (fig) [of activity] → torbellino, remolino m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

vortex

n pl <-es or vortices> (lit) → Wirbel m, → Strudel m (also fig)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

vortex

[ˈvɔːtɛks] n (vortices (pl)) [ˈvɔːtɪsiːz] (frm) (whirl) → vortice m (fig) → turbine m

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

vor·tex

n. vórtice, estructura de forma espiral.

References in classic literature ?

Despite the indifference to the affairs of the world he had expressed to Pierre, he diligently followed all that went on, received many books, and to his surprise noticed that when he or his father had visitors from Petersburg, the very vortex of life, these people lagged behind himself- who never left the country- in knowledge of what was happening in home and foreign affairs.

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She warns us to look out for the back-wash of the bad vortex in which (her beam shows it) she is even now reeling.

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The legislative department is everywhere extending the sphere of its activity, and drawing all power into its impetuous vortex.

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Now his imagination spun about the hand as about the edge of a vortex; but still he made no effort to draw nearer.

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Was there no life at all, then, outside this little vortex into which at her bidding he had plunged?

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An hour later the form of Janette Harford, invisible in the darkness and spray, was torn from my grasp by the cruel vortex of the sinking ship, and I fainted in the cordage of the floating mast to which I had lashed myself.

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If he had been stunned and shocked before, his horror was increased a thousandfold when he got into this vortex of the riot, and not being an actor in the terrible spectacle, had it all before his eyes.

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Autumn is coming--already it is mellowing the leaves; and, as I sit brooding in this melancholy little town (and how melancholy the little towns of Germany can be!), I find myself taking no thought for the future, but living under the influence of passing moods, and of my recollections of the tempest which recently drew me into its vortex, and then cast me out again.

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Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and `fall into a vortex', as she expressed it, writing away at her novel with all her heart and soul, for till that was finished she could find no peace.

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"Work being slack at present at Devil's Ford, I reck'ned I'd take a pasear down to 'Frisco, and dip into the vortex o' fash'nable society and out again." He lightly waved a new handkerchief to illustrate his swallow-like intrusion.

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The whole body of the river was compressed into a space of less than thirty feet in width, between two ledges of rocks, upwards of two hundred feet high, and formed a whirling and tumultuous vortex, so frightfully agitated as to receive the name of "The Caldron Linn." Beyond this fearful abyss, the river kept raging and roaring on, until lost to sight among impending precipices.

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Of course, some of those already drawn into the vortex noticed the effect on individuals.