Word.ws English Dictionary

whirlpool

Syllables: whirl·poolUK/ˈwɜːlpuːl/US/ˈwɝlpul/

whirlpool noun: a swirling body of water.

Noun

whirlpool (plural whirlpools)

  1. A swirling body of water.
    • A whirlpool is an instance of a vortex produced by ocean tides, or by a hole underneath where the water would drain out, such as in a bathtub.
  2. A hot tub, a jacuzzi.
    • The meatloaf has been cooking in the oven for the last hour and should be ready just about the time George climbs out of the whirlpool.1995, Orange Coast Magazine, volume 21, number 6, page 56
  3. (figuratively) A state of turmoil or agitated excitement.

Verb

whirlpool (third-person singular simple present whirlpools, present participle whirlpooling, simple past and past participle whirlpooled)

  1. (intransitive) To spin or swirl like the water in a whirlpool.

whirlpool meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

whirlpool in Hindi

swirling body of water
जलघुमर jalghumar

whirlpool in Tamil

பெருநீர்ச்சுழி

whirlpool in Marathi

whirlpool
भोवरा bhovrā

whirlpool in Urdu

whirlpool, vortex
بھنور bhãvar
More languagesFewer languages
whirlpool in Bengali
ওয়ার্লপুল
whirlpool in Telugu
సుడిగుండము suḍiguṇḍamu
whirlpool in Malayalam
നീർച്ചുഴി, ചുഴിപ്പ്, ജലാവർത്തം
whirlpool in Kannada
ಸುಳಿ, ಒಳಸುಳಿ, ನೀರ್ದಿಗುರಿ, ಆವರ್ತ
whirlpool in Punjabi
ਵਰਲਪੂਲ, ਵਰਲਪੁਲ, ਵਰਲਪੂਲ ਤੱਕ
whirlpool in Gujarati
વમળ, વ્હર્લપૂલ, વ્હર્લપુલ
whirlpool in Odia
ନହରା naharā
whirlpool in Sanskrit
आवर्त āvarta, भ्रम bhrama
whirlpool in Assamese
পাক pak
whirlpool in Nepali
व्हर्लपुल, वर्लपुल, व्हर्लपूल
whirlpool in Arabic
دَوَّامَة dawwāma
whirlpool in Persian
گرداب gerdâb, ورطه varte
whirlpool in Vietnamese
xoáy nước

Examples of whirlpool in a sentence

  • We'll get a room in a hotel, and jump in the whirlpool afterward, or before.
  • This is an area of spectacular tidal races, rips, swirls, boils, whirlpools, overfalls, currents, and countercurrents.
  • For others, they've leaped into a whirlpool of pain, anguish, sorrow and despair.

All 15 example sentences with whirlpool

Forms of whirlpool

Noun
pluralwhirlpools
Verb
third-person singular presentwhirlpools
present participlewhirlpooling
past participlewhirlpooled
pastwhirlpooled

Plural of whirlpool: whirlpools

Origin of whirlpool

From earlier whirlpoole, whirlpole, apparently from Middle English *whirlpole, potentially coalescing Old English hwierfel (“whirlpool”) and Old English hwierfepōl (“whirlpool”). Equivalent to whirl + pool. Cognate with Scots quhirlepole, whirle-pule (“whirlpool”). Compare also English whirlpit. Eclipsed non-native Middle English gurges (“whirlpool”), borrowed from Latin gurges (“whirlpool”).

Words formed from whirlpool

Phrases with whirlpool

Questions about whirlpool

What does whirlpool mean?
Whirlpool means a swirling body of water.
What is whirlpool in Hindi?
Whirlpool in Hindi is जलघुमर (jalghumar). See Whirlpool meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is whirlpool?
Whirlpool can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce whirlpool?
Whirlpool is pronounced /ˈwɝlpul/ (US).
What is the plural of whirlpool?
The plural of whirlpool is whirlpools.

Words near whirlpool in the dictionary

  1. whirlings
  2. whirlmixer
  3. whirlmixers
  4. whirlpit
  5. whirlpits
  6. whirlpool
  7. whirlpool bath
  8. whirlpool baths
  9. whirlpool galaxies
  10. whirlpool galaxy
  11. whirlpooled

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: whirlpool (page history and authors); whirlpool (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); भोवरा (Marathi) (page history and authors); بھنور (Urdu) (page history and authors); whirlpool (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); whirlpool (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); whirlpool (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); whirlpool (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); whirlpool (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ନହରା (Odia) (page history and authors); आवर्त (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); পাক (Assamese) (page history and authors); whirlpool (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-whirlpool.ogg.

Cite this entry: “whirlpool.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/whirlpool. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.