Word of the Day Archive
Thursday August 26, 2004
eddy \ED-ee\ , noun:
1. A current of air or water running in a direction contrary to the main current, or moving in a circular direction; a whirlpool.
2. A tendency or current (as of opinion or history) contrary to or separate from a main current.
intransitive verb:
1. To move in an eddy or as if in an eddy; to move in a circle.
transitive verb:
1. To cause to move in an eddy or as if in an eddy.
Many inanimate systems have lifelike qualities -- flickering flames, snowflakes, cloud patterns, swirling eddies in a river.
-- Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle
Egypt, like many countries, was caught up in the eddies of the Great Depression, which overtook Europe and America and which came in Egypt just as the new graduates of the expanded schooling were entering the workforce, looking for the professional opportunities their education had promised.
-- Leila Ahmed, A Border Passage
The indifferent river swirls on, eddying past small promontories where grass peeks through the snow.
-- Roger Cohen, Hearts Grown Brutal
The fragrant water is not completely still but, stirred perhaps by his own entry, seems to eddy around him as if he were being bathed in a rippling brook fed by hot springs, one that cleanses itself even as it cleanses him.
-- Robert Coover, Ghost Town
Eddy is from Middle English ydy, probably of Scandinavian origin.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for eddy
