Definitions for vortexˈvɔr tɛks; -təˌsiz
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
vor•texˈvɔr tɛks; -təˌsiz(n.)(pl.)-tex•es, -ti•ces
a whirling mass of water, esp. one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool.
Category: Hydraulogy, Physics
a whirling mass of air, esp. one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado.
Category: Physics, Meteorology
a whirling mass of fire, flame, etc.
something likened to a whirlpool, as in violent activity or the tendency to draw into its current everything that surrounds it.
Origin of vortex:
1645–55; < L, var. of vertex
Princeton's WordNet
whirl, swirl, vortex, convolution(noun)
the shape of something rotating rapidly
whirlpool, vortex, maelstrom(noun)
a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides)
Wiktionary
vortex(Noun)
A whirlwind, whirlpool, or similarly moving matter in the form of a spiral or column.
vortex(Noun)
Anything that involves constant violent or chaotic activity around some centre.
vortex(Noun)
Anything which inevitably draws surrounding things into its current.
Webster Dictionary
Vortex(noun)
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
Vortex(noun)
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
Vortex(noun)
any one of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to Vortex and allied genera. See Illustration in Appendix
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