Make Your Point > Archived Issues > EDDY

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connect this word to others: Possibly from Old Norse, our word eddy dates back to the year 1525, when people spelled words any old way they pleased. They spelled this one ydy, eddee, iddye, etc. It appears to be unrelated to the name "Eddie," which may have come from an Old English one meaning "wealth." Eddies are swirls of movement: countercurrents, anti-flows, streams breaking away from the mainstream, little whirlpools going around and around. Typically, they're small and gentle. If they were large and violent, we might call them mae___roms instead. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "EDDY" In a body of water, and sometimes in a gas, an eddy is a little whirlpool, or a swirling current. Figuratively, an eddy is anything that moves in circles, or moves in its own direction, often separate from everything else, and often staying in one place instead of moving forward. Pronunciation: EDD ee (just like the first name, "Eddie") Part of speech: Noun, the countable kind: "eddies of thought." It's also a verb, both the intransitive kind ("the thought eddies through his mind") and the transitive kind ("the wind eddies the water"). Other forms: eddies, eddied, eddying, eddyless How to use it: Talk about eddies of people on a dance floor, eddies of shoppers in a crowded mall, eddies of chatter in an audience, eddies of color in a painting or a flower, eddies of harmony in a choir, eddies of thought or argument, eddies of plot in a complex novel, and so on. Although "eddy" is most often a noun, you can use it like a verb, too. Talk about something eddying: gnats eddying around the room, steam eddying through the air, rumors eddying around the office, ideas and daydreams eddying through your mind, and so on. Finally, if you find yourself saying, "You know, I need a much more poetic word than 'still' or 'tranquil,'" then pick "eddyless:" "this eddyless river," "their deep and eddyless dreams." examples: Taylor is five. She doesn't hold conversations; she follows the eddies of her own thoughts. If I offer her a hot dog, she tells me why Ariel is her favorite mermaid. "Vast russet-colored fields, once devoted to crops, were crowded with mud—spattered tents, webs of clotheslines, eddies of plastic bags, children investigating mounds of refuse."    — Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 3 December 2018 has this page helped you understand "eddy"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "eddy" without saying "flow" or "whirlpool." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "Making no real progress (in some situation), (someone or something) eddied around." Concrete example: "Making no real progress across the pool, Pepper eddied around." Abstract example: "Making no real progress toward a decision, my thoughts eddied around." If you like, use this space to draft your sentence. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, the game show Chain Reaction." In each issue, try filling in both puzzles—the easier one and the tougher one—by supplying the terms to complete the chains.  From the previous issue: An easier puzzle:    Meticulous    A________    Deficit A tougher puzzle:     Eat    D___    D____    Incarnate Answers:    Meticulous    Attention    Deficit    Eat    Dirt    Devil    Incarnate Give these a try today: An easier puzzle:    Overt    C_______    Resolution A tougher puzzle:     Sedentary    L________    C_____    Lanes review this word: 1. The opposite of EDDY is A. DEBACLE. B. ERUPTION. C. MAINSTREAM. 2. In a standard five-paragraph essay, the central argument eddies, never _____, always _____. A. developing .. repeating itself B. provoking laughter .. somberly listing facts C. allowing for white space on the page .. shaping itself into a stack of rectangles 1. C 2. A a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.