Word
tornado
Phoneticstor·na·do
US/tɔɹˈneɪˌdoʊ/
UK/tɔːnˈeɪdəʊ/
Definitions
02energetic person or thing
n. a person or thing that moves very fast and causes a lot of excitement or mess.
n. a person or thing characterized by great energy, speed, or a tendency to cause chaotic disruption.
“The toddler was like a little tornado, leaving toys all over the living room.”
“The new CEO moved through the department like a tornado, restructuring entire teams within her first week on the job.”
Informal
Synonyms
03to move violently
v. to move through a place with great speed and force, often causing damage.
v. to move or sweep through a location with the destructive force or rapid rotation characteristic of a storm.
“The angry crowd tornadoed through the streets after the game ended.”
“The scandal tornadoed through the capital, upending political careers and leaving the administration in a state of total disarray.”
Literary
Etymology
From earlier English ternado, attested since the 1550s as a nautical term for a windy thunderstorm. From Spanish tronada (“thunderstorm”), from tronar (“to thunder”), from Latin tonō (“to thunder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). The o and r were reversed in English (metathesis) under influence of Spanish tornar (“to twist, to turn”), from Latin tornō (“to turn”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/tornado