hurricane

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See also: Hurricane

English

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Hurricane Maria seen from space in 2017.

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish huracán, ultimately from Taíno *hurakā.

Alternative forms

Noun

hurricane (plural hurricanes)

  1. A severe tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, or in the eastern North Pacific off the west coast of Mexico, with winds of 119 km/h (74 miles per hour) or greater accompanied by rain, lightning, and thunder that sometimes moves into temperate latitudes.
    • 2013 March, Frank Fish, George Lauder, “Not Just Going with the Flow”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 1 May 2013, page 114:
      An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex. The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.
  2. (meteorology) A wind scale for quite strong wind, stronger than a storm.
  3. (figurative) A great forceful onrush.
    • 2006 February 5, Leslie Feinberg, “Lesbian organizing and 'red feminism'”, in Workers World:
      A movement of women who wanted to win greater rights had to be able to move forward against a hurricane of lesbian-baiting from the political establishment of the Cold War capitalists.
  4. (cocktails) A sweet alcoholic drink made with rum, lemon juice, and either passion fruit syrup or fassionola.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Bislama: hariken
Translations
See also

Verb

hurricane (third-person singular simple present hurricanes, present participle hurricaning, simple past and past participle hurricaned)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, of the weather) To be violent, with winds of 119 km/h (74 miles per hour) or greater, usually accompanied by rain, lightning, and thunder.
    • 1872 September, Matthew Stradling, “The Misadventures of Mr. Catlyne, Q.C.”, in Fraser's Magazine, page 375:
      Through the night it rained, hurricaned; sashes rattled; the chimney smoked; a lobby-door was ajar, and kept banging to and fro.
    • 1897, Philip Neville, Marginal Notes: In Indian Ink, page 261:
      So I got inside my 'possum-skin—it hurricaned an' snowed— And I started for the Deepot, and lit out for his abode.
    • 1907, Anne Warner, The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary, page 188:
      I guess it did storm. I guess it hurricaned.
    • 1980, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Hearings, Reports and Prints of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, page 105:
      He is substituting for Rudy Black, who is our Resource Manager, who was hurricaned out of an appearance today because he could not get back from vacation.
  2. To move noisily, quickly, and dramatically, becoming the center of attention.
    • 1911, Edward Frederic Benson, Account Rendered, page 24:
      While thus employed, Mrs. Winthrop hurricaned into the room, and having received explanations, hurricaned forth again to tell her husband how dreadfully thoughtless his arrangement was, since Frank would have to take Miss Allenby into dinner.
    • 2014, Harlan Ellison, Children of the Streets:
      They must have told him I was ready for visitors; he hurricaned into the room, slung a chair away from the wall and banged it down next to the bed.
    • 2022, Bill Watson, Judokill:
      The Super nodded wisely, 'I agree, constable. See to it, Forbes!' and with that hurricaned out.
    • 2023, Rick Broadbent, Now Then: A Biography of Yorkshire:
      Angela Stripe was a force of nature. Bold and brave and brassy in a warm way, she never breezed in, she hurricaned.
  3. To attempt to accomplish a great deal with a frenzied effort.
    • 2011, Geri Larkin, Stumbling Toward Enlightenment, page 81:
      There were still spots on the mirror I had cleaned and tiny bits of newspaper were stuck in its edges where I had hurricaned through in my initial cleaning frenzy.
    • 2012, James Lovegrove, Age of Anansi:
      "A clean home is a good home," she'd say as she hurricaned from room to room with vacuum cleaner and feather duster, hands gauntleted in Marigolds.
    • 2020, Janet Hoggarth, The Single Mums' Secrets:
      Lara was running in and out of shops, her brain buzzing, ticking off items as she hurricaned through open doors to the sound of jingle bells and fifties crooners.
  4. To swirl quickly and violently.
    • 2014, D.H. Melhem, Heroism in the New Black Poetry: Introductions and Interviews:
      A whole swirl of turnarounds hurricaned from him.
    • 2020, Erik Seedhouse, Terminal Reality:
      Kona responded as air hurricaned out of the bay and water rushed in.
    • 2021, Will Sly, Mystery's, page 20:
      Like a cadaver dog, she latched onto his scent again and when it hurricaned around in her cerebral fluids with those dirty, honest, direct thoughts on capturing her lover, she couldn't stop herself from taking aggressive action.
  5. To tear apart in a violent, destructive, and/or chaotic manner.
    • 1770, Francis Gentleman, The Dramatic Censor, page 429:
      Urganda, hurricaned with violent perturbation of mind commences the fourth act; and, after a soliloquy, or rather incantation, raises a dæmon of revenge;
    • 2009, Robert W. Malcolmson, ‎Olivia Cockett, Love and War in London: A Woman’s Diary 1939-1942, page 15:
      My personal life has been hurricaned in the last month, not by the war particularly, but by having to decide not to “live in sin” after trying it for a few days.
    • 2009, Brian Brett, Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life:
      Sharon gratefully assumed I'd hurricaned my last kitchen with my flour-tossing talents.
    • 2015, W.E Abraham, The Mind of Africa, page 157:
      And within the Soviet Union itself, it is said that some of its underdeveloped territories were hurricaned by revolutionary dynamics from a feudal to a socialist structure.
    • 2017, Bethan Greener, Army Fundamentals:
      The other girls whispered to us 'He's hurricaning the room.'
    • 2023, Norma Elia Cantú, Chicana Portraits, page 189:
      Though Tafolla has always addressed the themes of suffering, persevering, and surviving within her expansive body of work, many of her writings exploring what she refers to as that "hurricaned" time period of cancer, the mastectomy, her role as a “cancer veteran," and the "Trinity of Deaths" remain in stacks of papers and handwritten journals, polished but percolating patiently along with some of her unfinished works—her scurrying utterances found clutched to the edges of crumple receipts, scratched onto torn envelopes, and etched into the surfaces of folders, book covers, and small boxes piling up on top of her desk.
  6. To cause an uproar.
    • 1678, John Bunyan, The pilgrim's progress:
      What do they therefore but quickly get themselves into a body, and fall forthwith to hurricaning in Mansoul, as if now nothing but whirlwind and tempest should be there.
    • 2011, Timothy Taylor, The Blue Light Project, page 78:
      It blew open. It hurricaned onto shore.
  7. To storm excessivly; to fume and rage violently.
    • 1898, William Carter Platts, A Few Smiles, page 72:
      He rang for the cook, and stormed and hurricaned and cycloned at her until the rain-clouds burst, and she wept.
  8. To chase violently or rush after and force along.
    • 1918, Adventure - Volume 17, Part 2, page 180:
      As he hurricaned toward her, she turned and ran to the drop-off place.
    • 2010, Melvin F. Compton, Black Lions: A First on Ashanti, page 366:
      Then they would all be in a confused clutter and cluster there, and there would be a mad stampede when The Black Watch hurricaned on their heels from behind, and several bags, boxes and barrels, if not virtually all, would fall in their wild rush for The Pra, their wounded and sick abandoned in a blood filled litter and sprawl over the raging sands.
    • 2014, Richard Gordon, Doctor At Large, page 99:
      Was there a sudden general strike, perhaps, sweeping up the doctors and nurses as it hurricaned upon them?
    • 2019, Robert Radnor, The Man Who Stories, page 205:
      I'll get swirled up in it. Tornadoed. Hurricaned.
    • 2019, David J. Schow, The Kill Riff:
      The One Stop clerk, a college student named Abel Langtry, gawked at the car chase as it hurricaned past in the rain.

Etymology 2

Coined by Jeret Peterson.

Noun

hurricane (plural hurricanes)

  1. (sports, aerial freestyle skiing) "fulltriple-fullfull" – an acrobatic maneuver consisting of three flips and five twists, with one twist on the first flip, three twists on the second flip, one twist on the third flip
See also

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

Noun

hurricane m (plural hurricanes)

  1. hurricane

Further reading