gyre

[jahyuh r] /dʒaɪər/
noun
1.
a ring or circle.
2.
a circular course or motion.
3.
Oceanography. a ringlike system of ocean currents rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Origin
1560-70; < Latin gȳrus < Greek gŷros ring, circle
Related forms
subgyre, noun
supergyre, noun
Examples from the web for gyre
  • It was not swimming endlessly with the school in a clockwise gyre.
  • Wind and ocean currents sweep up this garbage and deposit it in this slow-moving gyre.
  • Steering her was futile, and the vessel slid slowly down the wall of the gyre.
  • Within the subtropical gyre, one sees a tongue of high-salinity water intruding from the outcrop line.
  • In the southern deep gyre the effects of upwelling are likely confined to the coast, and are not well resolved with this data set.
British Dictionary definitions for gyre

gyre

/dʒaɪə/
noun
1.
a circular or spiral movement or path
2.
a ring, circle, or spiral
verb
3.
(intransitive) to whirl
Word Origin
C16: from Latin gӯrus circle, from Greek guros
Word Origin and History for gyre
n.

1560s, "a circular motion;" as a verb, "to turn round," early 15c.; from Latin gyrus "circle, circular course, round, ring," and its derived verb gyrare, from Greek gyros "circle, ring," related to gyrós "rounded," perhaps from PIE root *geu- "to bend, curve" (cf. Armenian kor "crooked," Lithuanian gurnas "hip, ankle, bone," Norwegian kaure "a curly lock of hair").

gyre in Science
gyre
  (jīr)   
A spiral oceanic surface current driven primarily by the global wind system and constrained by the continents surrounding the three ocean basins (Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian). Each ocean basin has a large gyre in the subtropical region, centered around 30° north and south latitude. Smaller gyres occur at 50° north latitude in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The direction of a gyre's rotation is determined by the prevailing winds in the region, with the large subtropical gyres rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.