hurricane

Pluralhurricanes

Formshurricanes, hurricaning, hurricaned

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A severe tropical cyclone: an intense storm that rotates around a calm central eye, bringing destructive winds and heavy rain.

   Forecasters warned that the hurricane could make landfall by Friday.

   The island has survived three major hurricanes in the past decade.

   Similarcyclone, typhoon

   Note

   A word that reached English from the Caribbean: it was borrowed from Spanish huracán, which goes back to the Taíno *hurakā. The science of the storm came later. William Radcliffe Birt's The Hurricane Guide (1850) still speaks of "revolving storms", naming the rotation around the eye that defines this broad meaning. Use it loosely of any such storm; the forecaster's term adds a region and a wind threshold.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A severe tropical cyclone of the North Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, or eastern North Pacific, with winds of 74 miles per hour (119 km/h) or greater, typically accompanied by rain, lightning, and thunder.

   The hurricane made landfall on the Texas coast as a Category 3 storm.

   Atlantic hurricanes draw their energy from warm ocean water.

   Note

   Forecasters use the word as a threshold rather than a description. A storm begins as a tropical depression, grows into a tropical storm, and becomes a hurricane only when its winds reach 74 miles per hour. One named storm can carry all three labels within a week. Typhoon and cyclone are its near-synonyms for comparable storms outside the Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins, where this term applies.

3. 3
   nounfigurativelycountable

   A great and forceful onrush, as of events, words, or emotion.

   The proposal unleashed a hurricane of criticism from both parties.

   He arrived in a hurricane of luggage, apologies, and last-minute instructions.

   Similarstorm, torrent, whirlwind, barrage, flood

   Note

   The figurative storm nearly always arrives with of: a hurricane of fury, of criticism, of abuse. Gilbert Burnet's 1687 translation of Lactantius already has "Hurricans of Fury and Violence" blowing over. The image still leans toward hostility aimed at someone. Where a flood of stresses sheer quantity, a hurricane of stresses force and onslaught.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A sweet cocktail of rum, lemon or other fruit juice, and passion fruit syrup or fassionola.

   New Orleans bars serve the hurricane in a tall, curved glass.

   He sipped a hurricane while the band played on the patio.

   Note

   A bar's name for a storm in a glass. It shares its Caribbean etymology with the tropical storm and is written lowercase, like most cocktail names. The recipe is a family rather than a fixed formula. Rum and lemon are the usual base, other fruit juices can stand in for the lemon, and the sweetness comes from either passion fruit syrup or fassionola.

5. 5
   verbintransitive

   To burst into or through a place in a fast, loud, dramatic way that draws everyone's attention.

   He tends to hurricane into meetings ten minutes late, trailing papers and apologies.

   The pop star hurricaned through the terminal, flashbulbs and fans trailing behind her.

   Similarstorm, sweep, barrel, blow, whirl

   Oppositetiptoe, creep

   Note

   A verb of entrances and exits, usually followed by into, out or forth: she hurricaned into the room and hurricaned forth again. Its natural foil is breeze in. Rick Broadbent's line about a woman who "never breezed in, she hurricaned" shows the scale it implies. The verb suggests a big personality more than haste, and it is often affectionate rather than critical.

6. 6
   verbintransitive

   To attempt to accomplish a great deal in a frenzied burst of effort.

   Students hurricane through final revisions in the week before the deadline.

   She hurricaned through the backlog of emails in a single caffeinated afternoon.

   Similarrace, rush, tear, blitz, power

   Oppositedawdle, plod

   Note

   Here the storm is a burst of work. The verb usually takes through or from room to room, and the classic scene is cleaning, shopping or a deadline. It differs from the dramatic-entrance verb in what it points to. That verb is about being seen, while this one is about getting a great deal done, often messily, with a few spots left on the mirror.

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To wreck something by ripping it apart with violent, chaotic, destructive force.

   Looters hurricaned the storeroom, leaving shelves bare and crates splintered.

   A pack of raccoons will hurricane an unsecured trash can overnight.

   Similarransack, wreck, trash, ravage, demolish

   Note

   A transitive verb, and often a passive one: a life, a kitchen or a territory gets hurricaned. Francis Gentleman in 1770 already turned it inward, describing a character "hurricaned with violent perturbation of mind," so the damage need not be physical. Where the swirling verb describes motion, this one describes the wreckage left behind.

8. 8
   verbintransitive

   To swirl quickly and violently.

   Sparks hurricaned upward from the bonfire each time someone added wood.

   Confetti began to hurricane around the stage as the fans kicked on.

   Similarswirl, whirl, spiral, eddy

9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To cause an uproar; to stir up noisy commotion.

   The leaked memo hurricaned the entire department for a week.

   Celebrity sightings tend to hurricane even the quietest small towns.

   Similarrock, convulse, shake, roil, agitate

   Oppositecalm, soothe

   Note

   Bunyan uses this verb as early as 1678. In The Pilgrim's Progress, rebels "fall forthwith to hurricaning in Mansoul, as if now nothing but whirlwind and tempest should be there." The uproar is collective, a crowd or a faction stirring things up, rather than one person's temper. The construction fall to hurricaning treats it as an activity someone launches into.

10. 10
    verbtransitive or intransitive

    To blow violently at speeds of at least 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, generally bringing rain, thunder, and lightning.

    It hurricaned along the coast for two days before the system moved inland.

    Sailors knew it could hurricane without warning in those latitudes.

    Similarstorm, blow

    Note

    Like rain and snow, the weather verb takes an empty subject: it hurricaned all night, it "hurricaned an' snowed." A passive use has grown from it as well. In 1980 congressional hearings, an official was "hurricaned out of an appearance," meaning he was kept away by the storm. The verb follows the regular pattern hurricaned, hurricaning.

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