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; < Latin gȳrus < Greek gŷros ring, circle
1560–70; < Latin gȳrus < Greek gŷros ring, circle
Related forms
sub·gyre, noun
su·per·gyre, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To gyre
Collins
World English Dictionary
gyre (dʒaɪə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a circular or spiral movement or path |
| 2. | a ring, circle, or spiral |
| —vb | |
| 3. | (intr) to whirl |
| [C16: from Latin gӯrus circle, from Greek guros] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Gyre
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
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. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Within the subtropical gyre, one sees a tongue of high-salinity water intruding from the outcrop line.
In the southern deep gyre the effects of upwelling are likely confined to the coast, and are not well resolved with this data set.
It was not swimming endlessly with the school in a clockwise gyre.
Steering her was futile, and the vessel slid slowly down the wall of the gyre.
Image for gyre
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