eddy

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 26, 2024 is:

eddy • \EDD-ee\ • noun

An eddy is a current of water or air running contrary to the main current, especially as a whirlpool. In figurative use, eddy may also refer to a contrary or circular current of thought or policy.

// The strong gusts whipped up eddies of fallen leaves.

// They were caught up in the eddies of chaos.

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Examples:

"These adventures were avenues to experience nature, the way a river current bends around rocks to form strings of rapids and eddies, the way snow blankets the land in a brisk silence. I made note of these observations. As I explored the landscape, I also began to explore its stories." — Teow Lim Goh, LitHub.com, 1 Nov. 2022

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"He walked by the stream, far from the houses, and in the light and warmth of the sun fell asleep on the bank. When he awoke and was afoot again, he lingered there yet a little longer, watching an eddy that turned and turned purposeless, until the stream absorbed it, and carried it on to the sea." This use of eddy (from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens) reflects a sense that has been swirling around English for centuries; the earliest documented uses of eddy to refer to water currents goes back to the 1400s. Etymologists trace the word to the Scottish dialect term ydy, which had the same basic meaning as our modern term. The verb form of eddy meaning "to move in or cause to move in an eddy or in the manner of an eddy" (as in "the waves eddied against the pier") appeared a few centuries after the noun.