whirlwind
/ˈwəːlwɪnd
/noun
1A column of air moving rapidly round and round in a cylindrical or funnel shape.They can cause dust devils and whirlwinds, though these are nothing when compared to the immense dust storms that can occur....
- For a desert people winds, rain, thunder, lightening, hurricanes, thunderbolts, whirlwinds, and other meteorological phenomena held tremendous fascination.
- He explained whirlwinds were formed in storm clouds.
Synonyms
tornado, hurricane, typhoon, cyclone, tropical storm, tropical cyclone, vortex;
dust devil, waterspout
North American informal twister
Australian/New Zealand informal willy-willy
1.1Used with reference to a very energetic person or a tumultuous process: a whirlwind of activity [as modifier]: a whirlwind romance...
- A lovestruck South African and a Rochdale bachelor have married after a whirlwind romance over the internet.
- It was a whirlwind romance little approved of by her family.
- The couple enjoyed a whirlwind romance after meeting each other in a Los Angeles hotel lobby in February.
Synonyms
bedlam, madhouse, mayhem, maelstrom, babel, chaos, pandemonium, uproar, turmoil, turbulence, swirl, tumult, hurly-burly, commotion, disorder, jumble, disarray, confusion, seething mass, welter
informal all hell broken loose
North American three-ring circus
rapid, lightning, overnight, instant, headlong, impulsive, breakneck, whistle-stop, fast-track, accelerated, meteoric, sudden, swift, fast, quick, speedy
informal quickie
Phrases
(sow the wind and) reap the whirlwind
- passiflorine
- passim
- passimeter
- passimetre
- passing
- passing bell
- passing-by
- passing certificate
- passing chord
- passing game
- passing gear
- passing lane
- passing loop
- passingly
- passing-measure
- passing modulation
- passingness
- passing note
- passing novel
- passing percentage
- passing phase
- passing place
- passing resemblance
- passing rule
- passing shot