whirlpool

[ hwurl-pool, wurl- ]

/ ˈʰwɜrlˌpul, ˈwɜrl- /

water in swift, circular motion, as that produced by the meeting of opposing currents, often causing a downward spiraling action.

Heraldry. gurge(def 2).

Origin of whirlpool

1520–30; whirl + pool¹; compare late Old English hwyrfepōl

The shock plunges you into a whirlpool of fear, denial and feverish action.

Meet America's Overworked Caregivers |Gail Sheehy |April 30, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
The new wrinkle is that the river of time may whirlpool and even fork.

Is Paris Hilton Killing Science? |Nash Landesman |April 15, 2009 |DAILY BEAST
He was not to be deserted by his rescuers from the whirlpool, and that was comfort enough for the moment.

The Lost City |Joseph E. Badger, Jr.
The Noda waters break their winter fetters first of all at Adonia, where the river leaps from the cliffs into the whirlpool.

Joan of Arc of the North Woods |Holman Day

No whirlpool, not Maelstrom itself, could fright them as those four men.

Gwen Wynn |Mayne Reid
His strength gave way—the waters rushed around the rock as a whirlpool.

Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume VI |Various
A great wind arose and lashed the ocean, and a whirlpool seized the falukah and whirled it round and round.

The Man Who Rocked the Earth |Arthur Train

whirlpool

/ (ˈwɜːlˌpuːl) /

a powerful circular current or vortex of water, usually produced by conflicting tidal currents or by eddying at the foot of a waterfall

something resembling a whirlpool in motion or the power to attract into its vortex

short for whirlpool bath

whirlpool

[ wûrl′pōōl′ ]

A rapidly rotating current of water or other liquid that sucks everything near it toward its center. The meeting of two tides can create a whirlpool.