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“tornado”
cyclone, hurricane, tornado
cyclone (SIGH klohn") (noun)
A storm or wind system that blows in a rapid, circular fashion (clockwise in the southern hemisphere; counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere) and often accompanied by rain: Raquel planned her vacation so she could avoid the season when a cyclone would hit the area where she would be because she didn't enjoy such rain storms.
hurricane (HUR i kayn") (noun)
Typically a tropical storm accompanied by high winds, thunder, lightening, and rain: It took the city years to recover from the damage caused by the hurricane.
tornado (tohr NAY doh) (noun)
A violent windstorm accompanied by a funnel shaped cloud that moves across the land: The radio broadcast warnings about the approaching tornado alerted the people so they could find a place to protect themselves from such a storm.
While Lana was holed up in the tornado shelter, her cousin speculated which would be worse; to be caught in a tornado, a hurricane, or a cyclone because any one of them can cause a great deal of damage.
This entry is located in the following unit:
Confusing Words Clarified: Group C; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc.
(page 13)
tornado (s), tornadoes (pl) (noun forms)
1. An extremely destructive funnel-shaped rotating column of air that passes in a narrow path over land.
2. A short-lived but severe windstorm, especially one that occurs on the West African coast.
3. A state of frenzied activity or intense emotion, or someone in such a state.
4. Etymology: from 1556, a navigator's word for violent windy thunderstorm in the tropical Atlantic, probably a borrowing from Spanish tronada, "thunderstorm", from tronar, "to thunder"; from Latin tonare, "to thunder".
2. A short-lived but severe windstorm, especially one that occurs on the West African coast.
3. A state of frenzied activity or intense emotion, or someone in such a state.
4. Etymology: from 1556, a navigator's word for violent windy thunderstorm in the tropical Atlantic, probably a borrowing from Spanish tronada, "thunderstorm", from tronar, "to thunder"; from Latin tonare, "to thunder".
Tornadoes occur chiefly during thunderstorms. If the tip of the funnel touches the ground, it can cause extensive damage.
A tornado becomes visible when a condensation funnel made of water vapor (a funnel cloud) forms in extreme low pressures, or when the tornado lifts dust, dirt, and debris upward from the ground.
A mature tornado may be columnar or tilted, narrow or broad; sometimes so broad that it appears as if the parent thundercloud itself had descended to ground level.
This entry is located in the following unit:
tonitro-, tonitru-
(page 1)