Word of the Day for Tuesday November 22, 2005
maelstrom \MAYL-struhm\, noun:
1. A large, powerful, or destructive whirlpool.
2. Something resembling a maelstrom; a violent, disordered, or
turbulent state of affairs.
The murk became thicker as Zachareesi fishtailed his canoe
through a swirling maelstrom of currents pouring past, and
over, unseen rocks.
--Farley Mowat, [1]The Farfarers
Suddenly, the Serb cause was thrust into the maelstrom of
the Napoleonic Wars.
--Misha Glenny, [2]The Balkans
Always at the center of a maelstrom of activity and
contention, he provided good columns for the press.
--Arthur Lennig, [3]Stroheim
Like Captain Ahab, the monomaniacal Harmon draws everyone
around him into a maelstrom of trouble.
--John Motyka, review of The Dogs of Winter, by Kem Nunn,
[4]New York Times, March 23, 1997
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Maelstrom comes from obsolete Dutch maelstroom, from malen,
"to grind, hence to whirl round," + stroom, "stream."
References
1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1883642566/ref=nosim/lexico
2. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140233776/ref=nosim/lexico
3. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813190444/ref=nosim/lexico
4. http://www.nytimes.com/
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=maelstrom
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