Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Vortex?

\Vor"tex\, n.; pl. E. {Vortexes}, L. {Vortices}. [L. vortex, vertex, -icis, fr. vortere, vertere, to turn. See {Vertex}.] 1. A mass of fluid, especially of a liquid, having a whirling or circular motion tending to form a cavity or vacuum in the center of the circle, and to draw in towards the center bodies subject to its action; the form assumed by a fluid in such motion; a whirlpool; an eddy. 2. (Cartesian System) A supposed collection of particles of very subtile matter, endowed with a rapid rotary motion around an axis which was also the axis of a sun or a planet. Descartes attempted to account for the formation of the universe, and the movements of the bodies composing it, by a theory of vortices. 3. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to {Vortex} and allied genera. See Illustration in Appendix. {Vortex atom} (Chem.), a hypothetical ring-shaped mass of elementary matter in continuous vortical motion. It is conveniently regarded in certain mathematical speculations as the typical form and structure of the chemical atom. {Vortex wheel}, a kind of turbine.