tourbillion

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 11, 2013 is: tourbillion • \toor-BIL-yun\  • noun 1 : whirlwind 2 : a vortex especially of a whirlwind or whirlpool Examples: After Rocco's hat fell into the river, it got sucked into the whirlpool, and once it was drawn into the tourbillion, we never saw it again. "Shaw refers to a study by meteorologist Bernard A. Power, who saw a tourbillon on a Quebec lake and was fascinated by its power and brevity-a hissing wind sucked spray into its vortex for ten seconds or so, then instantly vanished." - From Roy MacGregor's 2010 novel Northern Light Did you know? "Tourbillion" comes from the same root as "turbine"-namely, the Latin word "turbo," meaning "top" (as in a spinning object) or "whirlwind." "Tourbillion" has been used over time to refer to other spinning objects besides an actual whirlwind. Among watchmaking enthusiasts, "tourbillion" is the name of a kind of watch with a mechanism designed to compensate for the effects of gravity on its movement. Among pyrotechnics fans, a tourbillion is a kind of firework having a spiral flight. The variety of meanings for "tourbillion" is enough to make one's head spin! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.