vortex

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun the shape of something rotating rapidly
noun a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides)

Learned borrowing from Latin vortex. Doublet of vertex.

Over Descartian vortices you hover. — Moby Dick; Or, The Whale, Herman Melville
(Vortex is another form of vertex.) — Orthography : $b as outlined in the state course of study for Illinois : seventh and eighth years, Elmer W. (Elmer Warren) Cavins
'She always does when Aunt Jo gets into a vortex. — Jo's Boys, Louisa May Alcott

whirl, swirl, convolution

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