maelstrom
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From obsolete Dutch maelstrom (modern Dutch maalstroom),[1] from malen (“to whirl, grind”) (from Proto-Germanic *malaną) and stroom (“stream”).[2] Compare German Mahlstrom, Danish malstrøm, both equally borrowed from Dutch.
Pronunciation
Noun
maelstrom (plural maelstroms)
- A large and violent whirlpool.
- 2001 — Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, p 212
- A hulking shape burst through the doorway and hurtled down the corridor, leaving a maelstrom of air currents in his wake.
- 2001 — Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, p 212
- (figurative) Any violent or turbulent situation.
- 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 80:
- The terminal station, Richmond, is managed by South West Trains, heirs to the London & South Western Railway, and here the District fades into a railway maelstrom, since Richmond is not only on the Waterloo-Reading line but is also the westerly terminus of the London Overground.
- 2019 May 5, Danette Chavez, “Campaigns are waged on and off the Game Of Thrones battlefield (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club[1]:
- Setting our sights back on King’s Landing, where the Last War will be waged, makes a lot of sense, even if it does feel a bit anticlimactic after last week’s deadly, blustery maelstrom.
Translations
large whirlpool
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any violent or turbulent situation
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See also
References
- ^ Maelstrom in the Merriam-Webster book of word histories
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “Maelstrom”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.