Definition

1. Noun:

   • A miniature whirlpool or whirlwind: A small, circular movement of water, air, or another fluid, created when the current flows back on itself, often against the main current.
   • [Proper noun] Founder of Christian Science: Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), the founder of the Christian Science religious movement in 1866.

2. Verb:

   • To flow in a circular current: To move in a circular or whirling path, typically used for liquids, air, or smoke.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The canoe was caught in a small eddy near the riverbank.
  • A small eddy of leaves danced in the corner of the courtyard.
  • Mary Baker Eddy wrote "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

• Verb:

  • The water eddied around the rocks.
  • Smoke from the chimney eddied in the still air.

Advanced Usage

• "To be caught in an eddy": To be trapped or drawn into a circular current, often used metaphorically for being stuck in a repetitive situation.
  • The debate kept eddying around the same points without progress.
• "Eddies of thought/activity": Used figuratively to describe small, swirling clusters of ideas or bustling activity.
  • Eddies of conversation filled the room.

Variants and Related Words

• Eddying (adj, present participle): Describing something that is moving in a circular current.
  • The eddying waters were dangerous for swimmers.
• Eddy current (n, technical): A localized electric current induced in a conductor by a changing magnetic field, often causing swirling heat patterns.

Synonyms

• Noun: Whirlpool, vortex, swirl, maelstrom (for larger, more powerful versions).
• Verb: Swirl, whirl, spiral, circulate.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: "Eddy" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its verbal use is typically intransitive.) - Eddy about/around: To move in small, circular currents in a particular area. - Mist eddied about the mountain peaks.

Related Idioms

(Note: There are no common idioms centered solely on the word "eddy.") - "In an eddy of": Sometimes used poetically or descriptively to mean surrounded by or caught up in swirling activity or emotion. - She was lost in an eddy of conflicting emotions.

Noun

1. a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind resulting when the current of a fluid doubles back on itself
2. founder of Christian Science in 1866 (1821-1910)

Verb

1. flow in a circular current, of liquids