Hypertext Webster Gateway: "whirlwind"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Whirlwind \Whirl"wind`\, n. [Cf. Icel. hvirfilvindr, Sw.
hvirfvelvind, Dan. hvirvelvind, G. wirbelwind. See {Whirl},
and {Wind}, n.]
1. A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado,
characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with
an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It
usually has a rapid progressive motion.
The swift dark whirlwind that uproots the woods. And
drowns the villages. --Bryant.
Note: Some meteorologists apply the word whirlwind to the
larger rotary storm also, such as cyclones.
2. Fig.: A body of objects sweeping violently onward. ``The
whirlwind of hounds and hunters.'' --Macaulay.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
whirlwind
n : a more or less vertical column of air whirling around itself
as it moves over the surface of the Earth
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