whirlpool Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides)
    vortex; maelstrom.
  2. verb flow in a circular current, of liquids
    swirl; whirl; eddy; purl.

WordNet

Whirl"pool` noun
Definitions
  1. An eddy or vortex of water; a place in a body of water where the water moves round in a circle so as to produce a depression or cavity in the center, into which floating objects may be drawn; any body of water having a more or less circular motion caused by its flowing in an irregular channel, by the coming together of opposing currents, or the like.
  2. A sea monster of the whale kind. Obs. Spenser.
    The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are; among which the whales and whirlpools, called "balænæ," take up in length as much as four . . . arpents of land. Holland.

Webster 1913