Crossword clues for waterspout
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Waterspout \Wa"ter*spout`\, n. A remarkable meteorological phenomenon, of the nature of a tornado or whirlwind, usually observed over the sea, but sometimes over the land.
Note: Tall columns, apparently of cloud, and reaching from
the sea to the clouds, are seen moving along, often
several at once, sometimes straight and vertical, at
other times inclined and tortuous, but always in rapid
rotation. At their bases, the sea is violently agitated
and heaped up with a leaping or boiling motion, water,
at least in some cases, being actually carried up in
considerable quantity, and scattered round from a great
height, as solid bodies are by tornadoes on land.
--Sir
J. Herschel.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 a tornado that occurs over a body of water 2 a channel through which water is discharged, especially from the gutters of a roof
WordNet
Wikipedia
A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water. They are connected to a towering cumuliform cloud or a cumulonimbus cloud. In the common form, it is a non- supercell tornado over water.
While it is often weaker than most of its land counterparts, stronger versions spawned by mesocyclones do occur. Most waterspouts do not suck up water; they are small and weak rotating columns of air over water.
While waterspouts form mostly in the tropics and subtropical areas, other areas also report waterspouts, including Europe, New Zealand, the Great Lakes and Antarctica. Although rare, waterspouts have been observed in connection with lake-effect snow precipitation bands.
Waterspouts have a five-part life cycle: formation of a dark spot on the water surface, spiral pattern on the water surface, formation of a spray ring, development of the visible condensation funnel, and ultimately decay.
Usage examples of "waterspout".
On the docks, in full view, a waterspout - a water cyclone - twirled like a very thin top.
Wrapping her mind around those ties, Tris gripped them hard, like reins, and tugged the waterspout until it returned to its original position.
Taking a breath, she let it out and forbade the waterspout to go anywhere.
She let it slip down, her eyes fixed on the waterspout as the thread opened up.
During their brawl, when the waterspout had tried to attack Daja, Tris had clearly been terrified - and had dealt with her creation in spite of her fear, to keep it from hurting the Trader.
He suddenly realized that a waterspout would have had the same effect and was thankful for his earlier silence.
When a waterspout threatened, the growing craft was now simply moored as securely as the supply of rope would permit and allowed to float by itself.
He nodded understanding and returned to the other hull, which offered both a higher viewpoint, since the cabin roof was no place to ride out a waterspout, and was also closer to the object of his attention.
The elemental was about fifty yards off the port bow, shaping itself a waterspout, a moonstruck column of blackness, from the placid surface of the sea.
The boat was beginning to tip and slew sideways in the pull of the waterspout, but Sally scarcely noticed.
Only when the waterspout caught fire, blazing up with the breathy hiss of newspaper did she stand and look, gradually raising both fists to hail the impossible castle of flame that hid Sia from her once more.
Tristam whispered, for a waterspout spun toward them not thirty feet away.
Tristam heard Pim rapidly mumbling a prayer as though he raced to get through it before he was swallowed whole, but the waterspout passed them by.
The waterspout, he saw at once, would as a mere object of precious metal be worth a tremendous sum.
Chunks and pieces of her timbers spun out of the great waterspout hundreds of feet in the air to settle with agonizing slowness to the surface again.