whirlwind

English

Etymology

From Middle English whirlewind, whirlewynde, equivalent to whirl +‎ wind. Compare Middle Dutch wervelwint, Old Norse hvirfilvindr.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːlwɪnd/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)wɝlwɪnd/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

whirlwind (plural whirlwinds)

A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It usually has a rapid progressive motion.
- 1668, Franciscus Euistor the Palæopolite [pseudonym; Henry More], “The Fifth Dialogue”, in Divine Dialogues, Containing Sundry Disquisitions & Instructions Concerning the Attributes of God and His Providence in the World. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Joseph Downing […], published 1713, OCLC 1227551523, paragraph XXXVIII, page 515:
  VVhile in the mean time there iſſued out on the Eaſt-ſide a ſtrong VVind, but pure and refreſhing, vvhich dividing into ſeveral parts that turned round became ſo many innocuous VVhirl-vvinds of ſincere Air, tinctured only vvith a cool refreſhing ſmell, as if it had paſſed over ſome large field of Lilies and Roſes.
- 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “(please specify the page)”, in The Revolt of Islam; […], London: […] [F]or C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […]; by B. M‘Millan, […], OCLC 1142934411, (please specify the stanza number):
  And his hoofs ground the rocks to fire and dust, / His strong sides made the torrents rise in spray, / And turbulence, as if a whirlwind’s gust / Surrounded us; […]
(figuratively) A person or body of objects or events sweeping violently onward.
Once he got that new scooter he turned into a whirlwind and damaged all the flowers.
The weeks leading up to the convention were a whirlwind of preparation and hurried activity.

Hyponyms

dust devil
fire whirl
landspout
tornado
waterspout

Derived terms

sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

Translations

violent windstorm of limited extent characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air

Albanian: shakullinë (sq) f
Arabic: زَوْبَعَة‎ f (zawbaʿa)
Armenian: մրրիկ (hy) (mrrik)
Azerbaijani: qasırğa, burağan, burulğan (az)
Bashkir: ҡойон (qoyon)
Belarusian: ві́хур m (víxur), ві́хура f (víxura)
Breton: avel-dro (br) f
Bulgarian: ви́хър (bg) m (víhǎr), вихрушка (bg) f (vihruška)
Burmese: လေကတော့ (my) (leka.tau.), လေပွေ (my) (le-pwe), ရေကတော့ (my) (reka.tau.)
Catalan: terbolí (ca) m
Chinese:
Dungan: щүанфыр (xüanfɨr)
Mandarin: 旋風／旋风 (zh) (xuànfēng)
Chukchi: янрайгын (janrajgyn)
Czech: smršť (cs) f
Danish: hvirvelvind c
Dutch: windhoos (nl) m or f, wervelwind (nl) m
Esperanto: ciklono
Estonian: tuulispask
Finnish: pyörremyrsky (fi), pyörretuuli
French: cyclone (fr) m
Galician: remuíño (gl) m, voraxen f, refolión m, refolada (gl) f
Georgian: გრიგალი (grigali), ქარიშხალი (karišxali)
German: Wirbelwind m, Wirbelsturm (de) m
Greek: ανεμοστρόβιλος (el) m (anemostróvilos)
Ancient: λαῖλαψ f (laîlaps)
Greenlandic: anoraarsuaq
Hindi: बवंडर (hi) m (bavaṇḍar), चक्रवात (hi) m (cakravāt)
Hungarian: forgószél (hu)
Ido: aerovortico
Irish: cuaifeach m
Italian: turbine (it) m
Japanese: 旋風 (ja) (つむじかぜ, tsumujikaze)
Kazakh: құйын (qūiyn)
Khmer: កំបុតត្បូង (km) (kɑmbot tboung)
Korean: 선풍 (ko) (seonpung)
Kyrgyz: куюн (kuyun)
Lao: ຫົວກຸດ (hūa kut), ຈັກກະວາດ (chak ka wāt)
Latin: turbō (la) f
Latvian: viesulis m
Lithuanian: viesulas m
Macedonian: ви́ор m (víor)
Maori: tūkauati, āwhiowhio, ānewa o te rangi, urupuhau
Mongolian: хуй (mn) (xuj)
Navajo: náátsʼóʼoołdísii
Norwegian:
Bokmål: virvelvind m
Nynorsk: virvelvind m, kvervelvind
Old English: þoden m
Oromo: bubbee
Ottoman Turkish: بوراغان‎ (burağan)
Persian: گردباد‎ (fa) (gerdbâd)
Punjabi: ਵਾਵਰੋਲਾ (vāvrolā)
Plautdietsch: Wirbelstorm m
Polish: trąba powietrzna (pl)
Portuguese: turbilhão (pt) m
Russian: вихрь (ru) m (vixrʹ), смерч (ru) m (smerč) (tornado)
Scottish Gaelic: ioma-ghaoth f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ви̏хор m
Roman: vȉhor (sh) m
Slovak: víchrica f
Slovene: vihar (sl) m
Spanish: torbellino (es) m
Swedish: virvelvind (sv) c
Tagalog: buhawi, ipu-ipo
Tajik: гирдбод (tg) (girdbod)
Tatar: коен (qoyen)
Telugu: సుడిగాలి (te) (suḍigāli)
Thai: ลมวน (lom-won), พายุหมุน (paa-yú-mǔn), บ้าหมู (bâa-mǔu)
Turkish: burağan (tr), kasırga (tr)
Ukrainian: ви́хор m (výxor)
Uyghur: قۇيۇن‎ (quyun)
Uzbek: uyurma (uz), quyun (uz)
Vietnamese: gió lốc (vi), lốc (vi)
Welsh: troellwynt m, awel dro f, corwynt m, trowynt m
Westrobothnian: vedervissp m, verwisp f

body of objects or events sweeping violently onward

Chinese:
Mandarin: 一片忙亂／一片忙乱 (yī piàn mángluàn)
Finnish: pyörremyrsky (fi)
German: Wirbelwind m
Greek: λαίλαπα (el) f (laílapa), ανεμοστρόβιλος (el) m (anemostróvilos)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: virvelvind m
Nynorsk: virvelvind m, kvervelvind
Russian: урага́н (ru) m (uragán)
Spanish: tromba (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} vȉhor (sh)

Adjective

whirlwind (not comparable)

Rapid and minimal: a whirlwind tour, a whirlwind romance.
- 2016, Nina Milne, Rafael's Contract Bride (page 60)
  So you aren't deserting the Caversham ship. They'll understand. After all, their courtship was pretty whirlwind itself.