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Gyre - 7 dictionary results

gyre

   [jahyuhr]
–noun
1. a ring or circle.
2. a circular course or motion.
3. Oceanography. a ringlike system of ocean currents rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Origin:
1560–70; < L gȳrus < Gk gŷros ring, circle
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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gyre     (jīr)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A circular or spiral form; a vortex: "rain swirling the night into tunnels and gyres" (Anthony Hyde).
  2. A circular or spiral motion, especially a circular ocean current.
intr.v.   gyred, gyr·ing, gyres
To whirl.

[Latin gȳrus, from Greek gūros.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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gyre 
1566, "a circular motion;" as a verb, "to turn round," c.1420; from L. gyrus "circle," from Gk. gyros "circle, ring," related to gyros "rounded," from PIE base *geu- "to bend, curve."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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gyre

noun
a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals) [syn: coil] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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gyre   (jīr)  Pronunciation Key 
A spiral oceanic surface current driven primarily by the global wind system and constrained by the continents surrounding the three ocean basins (Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian). Each ocean basin has a large gyre in the subtropical region, centered around 30° north and south latitude. Smaller gyres occur at 50° north latitude in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The direction of a gyre's rotation is determined by the prevailing winds in the region, with the large subtropical gyres rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Gyre

Gyre\, n. [L. gyrus, Gr. ?, cf. ? round.] A circular motion, or a circle described by a moving body; a turn or revolution; a circuit.

Quick and more quick he spins in giddy gyres. --Dryden.

Still expanding and ascending gyres. --Mrs. Browning.

Gyre

Gyre\, v. t. & i. [Cf. OF. gyrer, girer. See Gyrate.] To turn round; to gyrate. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall. Drayton.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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