MEANING
1. A large system of ocean currents that circulates around a broad central area.
2. A circular or spiraling movement; as a literary verb, to move in circles or spirals.
Use it for
describing ocean-basin circulation; explaining broad pathways of floating material; distinguishing a current system from one currentDistinguishes a large rotating current system from a small whirlpool or a simple spinning movement. Writing functions: Ocean circulation / Circular motion.
Words that belong together
- an ocean gyre
- a subtropical gyre
- gyre circulation
On the page
The drifting buoy entered the outer current of the gyre.
The report mapped debris transport within the subtropical gyre.
The gulls gyred above the empty harbor.
Each leaf described a widening gyre before settling on the water.
Word forms
- Base
- gyre
- Past tense
- gyred
- Past participle
- gyred
- Present participle
- gyring
Usage notes
Countable noun: gyre, gyres. Literary verb: gyre, gyres, gyred, gyring; will gyre. Register: technical. Commonness: moderately common in ocean science; general motion sense literary (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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