Tornado
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A violent wind in the form of a mobile, rapidly rotating, funnel cloud that has contacted the ground.
"An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex. The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes."
- 2 a purified and potent form of cocaine that is smoked rather than snorted; highly addictive wordnet
- 3 a localized and violently destructive windstorm occurring over land characterized by a funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground wordnet
- 1 To sweep through something violently. ambitransitive, figuratively
"And so on Friday nights, James Torin tornadoed through six beers, a carton of cigarettes, a coffee table littered with lottery tickets, and unrequited dreams."
Example
More examples"There was a tornado in the village."
Etymology
From earlier English ternado, attested since the 1550s as a nautical term for a windy thunderstorm. From Spanish tronada (“thunderstorm”), from tronar (“to thunder”), from Latin tonō (“to thunder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). The o and r were reversed in English (metathesis) under influence of Spanish tornar (“to twist, to turn”), from Latin tornō (“to turn”).