Gyre

/d͡ʒaɪ.ə/ · noun

Meaning

A swirling vortex..

Definitions by Sense

1. A swirling vortex.
2. A circular or spiral motion; also, a circle described by a moving body; a revolution, a turn.
3. (anatomy, zootomy, archaic) Synonym of gyrus (“a fold or ridge on the cerebral cortex of the brain”).
4. (oceanography) An ocean current caused by wind which moves in a circular manner, especially one that is large-scale and observed in a major ocean.
5. (intransitive) To spin around; to gyrate, to whirl.
6. (transitive, rare) To make (something) spin or whirl around; to spin, to whirl.

Example Sentences

Quick, and more quick he ſpins in giddy Gires, / Then falls, and in much Foam his Soul expires.

What is art, / But life upon the larger scale, the higher, / When, graduating up in a spiral line / Of still expanding and ascending gyres, / It pushes toward the intense significance / Of all things, hungry for the Infinite? / Art's life,—and where we live, we suffer and toil.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer; / Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, […]

Most ships that tried to cross the Pacific in the past would get stuck in the gyres and never make it out.

The host of heauenly beautyes moue, / Depainted in their proper stories, / As well the fixd as wandring glories, / Which from their proper orbes not goe, / Whether they gyre swift or slowe: […]

Jabberwocky. / 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wa[b]e; / All mimsy were the borogoves, / And the mome raths outgrabe.

Synonyms for gyre

Antonyms for gyre

Related Words

Word Forms

• gyres
• gyring
• gyred

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions