| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈwhirlpool1 Obs.
Also 6 wherpole, w(h)orpoul, etc.
[app. an alteration, by popular etymology, of thirlepoll, q.v.]
? The large blowing whale.
c1450Brut ii. 603 Ther wer sene in þe Temys at Londen, many whyrlepolys, & anoþer tyme a whale. 1508Stanbridge Vulgaria (W. de W.) B j, Balena, a whyrlepole. 1541in Lincoln Chapter Acts II. 49 (Linc. Rec. Soc. XII.), Sturgion, seale, porpoise, wherpole, and such like. 1558Gesner Hist. Anim. iv. 853. 1601 Holland Pliny ix. iii. I. 235 The Whales and Whirlepooles called Balænæ. 1678Yng. Man's Call. 301 At Quinborough three great dolphins were taken,..and a while after three other fishes, called whirlpools were taken at Gravesend. 1694Motteux Rabelais iv. xxxiii. 131 A huge monstrous Physetere, a sort of a Whale (which some call a Whirl pool).
▪ II. whirlpool2|ˈhwɜːlpuːl|
Also 6 whirpole, whoorlpool, etc.
[f. whirl- + pool n.1 Cf. late OE. hwyrfepól and wirfelmere.]
1. a. A place in, or part of, a river or the sea, where the water is in constant (and usually rapid) circular movement, due to the configuration of the channel or bottom, to some obstruction, or to the meeting of adverse currents or wind and tide; a (large and violent) eddy or vortex.
1530Palsgr. 288/1 Whirpole a depe place in a ryver, where the water tourneth rounde. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 75 Many whorlepooles and shelfes. 1613J. Saris Voy. Japan (Hakl. Soc.) 66 Drowned in a wherlpoole. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xi. 94 A guilty conscience is like a whirlpool, drawing in all to it self which otherwise would passe by. 1774Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772, 359 Eddies and whirlpools rising..with furious boilings. 1815Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) I. 150 The river of Caubul..forms numerous rapids and whirlpools. 1880Geikie Phys. Geog. iii. 154 Where the tide is thrown from side to side against sunken rocks, or where two opposing currents meet.., the water forms whirlpools.
transf.1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 30 The whirl-pool of the spirits in the blood. 1799W. Tooke View Russ. Emp. I. 65 Which..buries both men and cattle in whirl⁓pools of snow and sand. 1903A. M. Clerke Probl. Astrophysics 446 Those cosmic ‘whirlpools’, every trait of which testifies to the counterplay of multiple activities.
b. fig. in various applications: esp. a destructive or absorbing agency by which something is figured as engulfed or swallowed up; a scene of confused and turbulent activity.
1529S. Fish Supplic. Beggers 10 Howe all the substaunce of your Realme..rynneth hedlong ynto the insaciabill whyrlepole of these gredi goulafres. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 63 Drowned in the whirlepoole of obliuion. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. lxix. 4 In y⊇ deepest whoorlpools of aduersities, faith may hold vs vp. 1642Milton Apol. Smect. x. Wks. 1851 III. 307 The non-resident..Prelats, the gulphs and whirle pooles of benefices, but the dry pits of all sound doctrine. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 419 In the middest of the Whirl-pooles of Change. a1704T. Brown Walk round Lond., Coffee-Houses (1709) 36 The Whirl-pool of Poetry suck'd me in, and I fell a Rhiming. 1831James Phil. Augustus xliii, What a whirlpool of contending feelings! 1863Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xxii, You may revolve in a whirlpool of red shirts, shaggy beards [etc.]. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. xcvii. III. 362 Europeans..have assumed..that public life will draw..enough of the highest ability into its whirlpool.
c. A bath or pool with underwater jets of hot, usu. aerated, water, used for purposes of physiotherapy or relaxation; also, a pumping unit for producing such jets. orig. U.S.
1975Sports Illustrated Aug. 41 Sportswriters let you know they are on such intimate terms with an athlete that they can interview him in ‘the whirlpool’. Ibid. 42/3 Last year Underwriters' Laboratories..dropped its long-standing approval of portable whirlpools whose unit, motor and all, goes into the water. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 16 June 8-a/3 (Advt.), Relaxing, soothing whirlpool... Directional nozzle, aerator, timer, handle. 1978Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. d17/2 (Advt.), Entertainment and dancing in the Wharf Lounge. Indoor pool, sauna, whirlpool, charming restaurants. 1980D. Williams Murder for Treasure ix. 86 The heated indoor whirlpool..measures twelve feet across. 1985Brit. Med. Jrnl. 6 Apr. 1024/1 The whirlpool or Jacuzzi is a North American invention which has flourished there since the early 1970s but has only recently been introduced into Britain. Hot water is agitated mechanically through pressurised jets in a large tub and gives the bather a pleasurable sensation. Bathing in the company of others is usual.
2. attrib. and Comb.
1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. ii, They have..sunke the tossed galleasse in depth Of whirlepoole scorne. 1647H. More Song of Soul iv. Oracle 34 Bitter wave of troubled flesh, And whirl-pool-turnings of the lower spright. 1664Power Exp. Philos. iii. 159 To recoyl by a double whirl⁓pool-motion. 1902Westm. Gaz. 6 Mar. 6/2 The whirl⁓pool rapids [of the Niagara].
b. (In sense 1 c above.)
1950Life & Health Oct. 8/2 Whirlpool baths have stimulating effects. 1972‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) xii. 113 It's more like a country club..saunas and whirlpool baths, cocktail bars and singles nights. 1975Sports Illustrated Aug. 42/2 Doctors generally agree on the salubrious effects of whirlpool therapy. 1978Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 13 June tm 88/1 Jacuzzi Bros Inc., Little Rock, Ark... Jacuzzi... For hydro-therapy products..therapeutic whirlpool baths and parts thereof. 1984Miami Herald 6 Apr. 15d/5 (Advt.), Bayside pool, sundeck and whirlpool spa. 1984Listener 19 July 17/4 (Advt.), For couples who want to get away together..4 poster beds, water beds—with whirlpool bath en suite.
Hence ˈwhirlpooling ppl. a., circling or eddying like a whirlpool.
a1861T. Winthrop Life in Open Air (1863) 48 A birch [canoe]..lies, light as a leaf, on whirlpooling surfaces. |