gyre
Circular or spiral motion
A gyre is a circular or spiral motion, or something that moves in such a pattern.
The word appears most often in oceanography, where gyres are large systems of rotating ocean currents: the North Atlantic gyre, Plastic waste accumulates in oceanic gyres.
The verb means to whirl or spiral: The falcon gyres above its prey.
Outside scientific contexts, gyre sounds literary or archaic.
Directed flow of charge
- eddyCircular counter-current
- circulationMovement through a system
- AtlanticOcean bordering Europe
- PacificEarth's vastest ocean
subtropical · subpolar · anticyclonic · thermohaline · upwelling · garbage patch · plastic · debris
Rotating water formation
- maelstromViolent whirlpool or upheaval
- swirlRotating, curving movement
- tornadoViolent rotating windstorm
- cycloneRotating low-pressure storm system
funnel · waterspout · typhoon · hurricane · twister · suction · centrifuge · turbulence
current
Directed flow of charge
- eddyCircular counter-current
- circulationMovement through a system
- AtlanticOcean bordering Europe
Pacific · subtropical · subpolar · anticyclonic · thermohaline · upwelling · garbage patch · plastic · debris · convergence
whirlpool
Rotating water formation
- maelstromViolent whirlpool or upheaval
- swirlRotating, curving movement
- tornadoViolent rotating windstorm
cyclone · funnel · waterspout · typhoon · hurricane · twister · suction · centrifuge · turbulence · rotation
coil
Wound circular arrangement
- helixSpiraling three-dimensional curve
- whorlSpiral arrangement of ridges
- scrollWound document of parchment
volute · curlicue · convolution · ringlet · corkscrew · twist · winding · loop · spire · nautilus
spin
Rapid rotation around axis
pivot · rotate · wheel · circle · angular · centrifugal · rotation · whirling · circling · orbit
- Atlantic OceanNorth Atlantic, South Atlantic, Gulf Stream, Bermuda Triangle, Sargasso Sea
- spiralsspiral, helix, logarithmic spiral, coil, whorl
- swirlingwhirl, whirlpool, whirlwind, swirl, twirl
- oceanographyoceanography, oceanographer, sonar, marine science, ocean circulation
- Lewis CarrollJabberwocky, Alice in Wonderland, Cheshire, Queen of Hearts, Humpty Dumpty
- ocean currentsGulf Stream, ocean current, surface currents, deep currents, deep current
gyrestraight line
Undeviated continuous path
linear path · beeline · vector · direct route · ray
gyrestillness
Complete lack of motion
stasis · stagnation · immobility · motionlessness · dead calm
gyro, gyrate, gyration, gyroscope, gyrating, gyres, gyrated, gyratory