tropical cyclone
noun
1.
a cyclone that originates over a tropical ocean area and can develop into the destructive storm known in the U.S. as a hurricane, in the western Pacific region as a typhoon, and elsewhere by other names.
Compare
extratropical cyclone
,
hurricane
(def 1),
willy-willy
.
Origin
1915-20
tropical cyclone
in Science
tropical cyclone
(trŏp'ĭ-kəl)
See under
cyclone
.