eddy

1 of 2

noun

ed·​dy ˈe-dē How to pronounce eddy (audio)
plural eddies
1
a
: a current of water or air running contrary to the main current
especially : a circular current : whirlpool
b
: something moving similarly
2
: a contrary or circular current (as of thought or policy)

eddy

2 of 2

verb

eddied; eddying

transitive verb

: to cause to move in an eddy

intransitive verb

: to move in an eddy or in the manner of an eddy

Examples of eddy in a Sentence

Noun The boat was caught in a powerful eddy. Verb The wind gusted and eddied around us. The waves swirled and eddied against the pier.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The new research indicates the cosmic cycle that drives deep ocean eddies could help bolster ocean circulation in the event of an AMOC collapse. Catherine Duncan, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Mar. 2024 The slump wall is moated in a fast current with dangerous eddies that can suck down the side of a boat, there’s a gargantuan amount of mass to be surveyed, and where the hell is the sulfur smell coming from? Cassidy Randall, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2024 The motions inside clouds are turbulent, with globs and eddies of gas swirling around like capricious fairies. Nia Imara, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024 These eddies may provide some extra lift for the insects and reduce drag on their wings by shifting how air flows past the butterfly. Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Dec. 2023 From the riverbank, retrieving them through current seams and eddies is the ticket. Jordan Rodriguez, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024 At sea, differences in currents and eddies of the northeast Pacific Ocean and Southern Ocean could impact the seals’ movements and the locations and availabilities of different prey. Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Jan. 2024 Readers who crave hard-shell explanations of time travel or who need to know exactly what mechanism causes the continuum to loop and create an eddy will have to look elsewhere. Amy Brady, Scientific American, 14 Dec. 2023 Bits of trash collected beside the boat ramp, caught in an eddy. Justin Wm. Moyer, Washington Post, 27 Nov. 2023
Verb
The crowd eddied, some with batons dancing concentrically around the wheel of fire, others collecting around two young men in white. Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2023 Soccer has a habit of undervaluing these sorts of cultural shifts, and as a result misunderstanding the currents that eddy and swirl around it, invisibly and inexorably shaping its reality. Rory Smith, New York Times, 23 June 2023 As a result, other stray digital ephemera are sucked into this eddying body—fashion photos of NBA baller Chris Paul, a random clip of someone’s dad—all of them in conversation with one another. Jason Parham, Wired, 14 Feb. 2020 In the same way that eddies in a stream alter downstream currents, Elgindi’s work itself prompted a new round of mathematical discovery. Quanta Magazine, 13 Jan. 2020 The toilets at home were white and eddied the business away. Vanessa Martir, Longreads, 27 Nov. 2019 Even as rhymes ricochet about, the whole seems to eddy from the walls into the room’s center. BostonGlobe.com, 31 Oct. 2019 The dancers’ bodies seem always a-curve, torsos and arms frequently describing circles in the air, or whole bodies eddying down and pooling out into soft rolls on the floor. Janine Parker, BostonGlobe.com, 5 July 2019 The generous space between them is insurance that a fire in one is less likely to spread to another, and the arrangement ensures there won’t be a constricted area where the wind might eddy in a blizzard and pile snow against a tent entrance. Barry Lopez, Harper's magazine, 10 Jan. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'eddy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English (Scots) ydy, probably from Old Norse itha

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1810, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of eddy was in the 15th century

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Dictionary Entries Near eddy

Cite this Entry

“Eddy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eddy. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

eddy

1 of 2 noun
ed·​dy ˈed-ē How to pronounce eddy (audio)
plural eddies
: a current of air or water running against the main current or in a circle

eddy

2 of 2 verb
eddied; eddying
: to move in an eddy or in a way that forms an eddy

Biographical Definition

Eddy

biographical name

Ed·​dy ˈe-dē How to pronounce Eddy (audio)
Mary (Morse) 1821–1910 née Baker American founder of the Christian Science Church
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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