2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Vortex  \Vor"tex\,  n.;  pl  E.  {Vortexes},  L.  {Vortices}.  [L. 
  vortex,  vertex,  -icis,  fr  vortere  vertere  to  turn.  See 
  {Vertex}.] 
  1.  A  mass  of  fluid,  especially  of  a  liquid,  having  a  whirling 
  or  circular  motion  tending  to  form  a  cavity  or  vacuum  in 
  the  center  of  the  circle,  and  to  draw  in  towards  the 
  center  bodies  subject  to  its  action  the  form  assumed  by  a 
  fluid  in  such  motion;  a  whirlpool;  an  eddy. 
 
  2.  (Cartesian  System)  A  supposed  collection  of  particles  of 
  very  subtile  matter,  endowed  with  a  rapid  rotary  motion 
  around  an  axis  which  was  also  the  axis  of  a  sun  or  a 
  planet.  Descartes  attempted  to  account  for  the  formation 
  of  the  universe,  and  the  movements  of  the  bodies  composing 
  it  by  a  theory  of  vortices. 
 
  3.  (Zo["o]l.)  Any  one  of  numerous  species  of  small 
  Turbellaria  belonging  to  {Vortex}  and  allied  genera.  See 
  Illustration  in  Appendix. 
 
  {Vortex  atom}  (Chem.),  a  hypothetical  ring-shaped  mass  of 
  elementary  matter  in  continuous  vortical  motion.  It  is 
  conveniently  regarded  in  certain  mathematical  speculations 
  as  the  typical  form  and  structure  of  the  chemical  atom. 
 
  {Vortex  wheel},  a  kind  of  turbine. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  vortex 
  n  1:  the  shape  of  something  rotating  rapidly  [syn:  {whirl},  {swirl}, 
  {convolution}] 
  2:  a  powerful  circular  current  of  water  (usually  the  resulting 
  of  conflicting  tides)  [syn:  {whirlpool},  {maelstrom}] 

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