| 释义 |
vortex|ˈvɔːtɛks|
Pl. vortices |ˈvɔːtɪsiːz|.
[a. L. vortex (var. of vertex vertex) an eddy of water, wind, or flame, a whirlpool, whirlwind, f. vort-, vertĕre to turn. Cf. F. vortex (Anat.), Pg. vortices pl., It. vortice.]
1. a. In older theories of the universe (esp. that of Descartes), a supposed rotatory movement of cosmic matter round a centre or axis, regarded as accounting for the origin or phenomena of the terrestrial and other systems; a body of such matter rapidly carried round in a continuous whirl.
1653H. More Philos. Cabbala App. i. (1713) 113 That there are infinite numbers of Atoms or Particles, different in magnitude and figure;..and that they are moved in the Vniverse after the manner of vortices. 1662Glanvill Lux Orient. xiv. 141 That great orb of fire..shall fly away out of this vortex, and become a wandring Comet. 1665― Def. Van. Dogm. 69 The Cartesian Vortices will serve to account for the Phænomena, and teach a way of Theory not unserviceable to experiment. 1698J. Keill Exam. Th. Earth (1734) 283 It is no hard matter to prove, that the Vortices can never be the cause of the Cœlestial motions. a1714M. Henry Expos. O. & N. Test., Eccles. i. 14 (1737) II, He saw..all within this vortex (to use the modern gibberish) which has the sun for its centre. 1785Sir W. Herschel Sci. Papers (1912) I. 223 These will vanish like the Cartesian vortices, that soon gave way when better theories were offered. 1833Coleridge Table-t. 29 June, Descartes' vortices were not an hypothesis: they rested on no facts at all. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. I. 389 The false theory of the vortices or the true theory of gravitation.
b. In fig. context or use.
1704Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 251 Death, like a Star of superior Influence, drew him [Descartes] into his own Vortex. a1721Prior Dial. Dead, Locke & Montaigne ad fin., Those very Ideas changing, Lock may be led into a new Labyrinth, or sucked into another Vortex; and may write a Second Book in order to Disprove the first. 1790C. M. Graham Lett. Educ. 401 Our benevolence extends at last to the whole race of mankind, like so many different vortices; the center of them all is self love. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 140, I was a sharer in the general vortex, though my little world described the path of its revolution in an orbit of its own. 1855G. Brimley Ess., Poetry & Crit. (1858) 197 That mighty ocean of intermingling, interacting vortices [sc. Time]. 1879Geo. Eliot Theo. Such xvii. 304 The spiral vortices fundamentally concerned in the production of epic poems.
(b) spec. (with capital initial) a group of artists practising vorticism (see vorticism).
1913E Pound Let. 19 Dec. (1950) I. 28 You may get something that you would miss in The Vortex. 1914Blast 20 June 8 Do you think Lloyd George has the Vortex in him? 1969Listener 30 Jan. 138/1 The so-called Great English Vortex, i.e. the group of painters, sculptors and writers who..formed and represented the Vorticist movement.
c. In modern scientific use: A rapid movement of particles of matter round an axis; a whirl of atoms, fluid, or vapour.
1847Emerson Repr. Men, Swedenborg Wks. (Bohn) I. 316 Descartes, taught by Gilbert's magnet, with its Vortex, spiral, and polarity. 1862J. C. Maxwell Sci. Papers (1890) I. 489 The theory of molecular vortices applied to statical electricity. 1872Proctor Ess. Astron. xix. 230 Friction between vortices of meteoric vapours and the Sun's atmosphere must be the immediate cause of solar heat. 1882Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 184 If there is not vortical motion throughout the whole area, but only local vortices, this integral will reduce to a simple sum of terms equal in number to the number of vortices.
2. An eddying or whirling mass of fire or flame.
1652J. Hall Height of Eloquence p. lxv, The Pits and vortices of the Aetna, whose eructations throw whole stones from its depths. 1827–39De Quincey Murder Wks. 1854 II. 62 Men, of course, read in this hurrying overhead of scintillating and blazing vortices, the annunciation of some gigantic calamity going on in Liverpool. 1869J. Phillips Vesuv. iii. 67 It continued to vomit forth from five different openings vortices of flame.
3. a. A whirl or swirling mass of water; a strong eddy or whirlpool.
1704J. Pitts Acc. Moham. 77 In this place is much Danger without a fresh Gale of Wind, because it is a kind of Vortex, the Water whirling round, and is apt to swallow down a Ship. 1759Sterne Tr. Shandy ii. ix, [A coach] splashing and plunging..with such a vortex of mud and water moving along with it, round its axis. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 268 The noise of this dreadful vortex still farther contributes to encrease its terror. 1816Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire iv. (1818) 143 In crossing the river we passed through several whirlpools... These vortices are formed in an instant..and subside as quickly. 1839T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 181 Leaving nothing but a white-and-green looking vortex in the disturbed blue ocean. 1864C. Geikie Life in Woods xxiii. (1874) 366 The poor wretch was kept revolving, with each end of his support sunk in the vortex by turns.
b. Applied to a waterspout.
1762Falconer Shipwr. ii. 37 Still round and round the fluid vortex flies, Scattering dun night and horror thro' the skies.
c. ellipt. A vortex water-wheel (see 7).
1853Ure Dict. Arts, etc. (ed. 4) II. 914 The vortex admits of several modes of construction. Ibid. 915 A low pressure vortex constructed for another mill near Belfast.
4. a. A violent eddy or whirl of the air; a whirlwind or cyclone, or the central portion of this.
a1700Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 24 Now the North Wind the crazy Vessel sweeps, And in its rapid Vortex pris'ner keeps. 1728Chambers Cycl., Vortex, Whirlwind, in Meteorology, a sudden, rapid, violent Motion of the Air, in Gyres or Circles. 1838Redfield in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. XXXIII. 59 A direct circuit of rotation in the form of a vortex or active whirlwind. 1845A. Thom Nat. Storms 48 The Margaret, on the opposite side of the vortex, still had the ‘hurricane strong’ from S.W. by W. with a heavy sea. 1860Maury Phys. Geog. (Low) xix. 439 The vortex of a cyclone is often and aptly compared to a meteor. 1870Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. vi. 198 We seemed crossing the vortex of a storm.
transf.1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. ii. 123 The vortex of this night Hath whirled him hither to my sight.
b. In fig. context or use.
1788F. Burney Diary 13 Feb., The whirlwind of his eloquence nearly drew me into its vortex. 1854Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Poet. & Imag. Wks. (Bohn) III. 160 In their rhythm is no manufacture, but a vortex, or musical tornado. 1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics I. 145 Bernard..began life by drawing after him into the convent all his kindred..with the irresistible vortex of his own religious fervour.
5. fig.
a. A state or condition of human affairs or interests comparable to a whirl or eddy by reason of rush or excitement, rapid change, or absorbing effect.
1761Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) IV. lv. 273 The distant parts of the kingdom, being removed from that furious vortex of new principles and opinions which had transported the capital. 1793Burke Obs. Conduct Minority Wks. 1842 I. 611 No man..may be justly suspected of secretly abetting this French Revolution, who must not be drawn into its vortex. 1806A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 243 Lecturers, who delight in being continually whirled round in the vortex of new opinions. 1838W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1866) III. 124, I value my peace of mind too highly to suffer myself to be drawn into the vortex of New York politics. 1860Mill Repr. Govt. (1865) 137/1 The appointments are kept out of the vortex of party and parliamentary jobbing. 1883S. Waddington A. H. Clough 83 The vortex of religious excitement and discussion kept him idly moving in its ceaseless gyrations.
b. A constant round of excitement or pleasure.
[1766Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wm. (1767) I. vii. 268 That whirl of dissipation, which, like some mighty vortex, has swallowed up in a manner all conditions and characters.] 1792A. Young in Mme. D'Arblay's Lett. (1842) V. 329 A person who is constantly moving in a vortex of pleasure, brilliancy, and wit. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T., Breakfast, I feel that I cannot be at ease in the vortex of dissipation. 1877Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 191 She and her husband lived in a vortex of gaiety.
c. A situation into which persons or things are steadily drawn, or from which they cannot escape. (Chiefly after sense 3.)
1779J. Moore View Soc. Fr. I. i. 8, I thought it most prudent to remove.., that no chance might remain of my being..whirled round again in the vortex of dissipation and gaming. 1833Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound Poet. Wks. (1904) 159/2 Let him hurl me anon, into Tartarus,..With Necessity's vortices strangling me down. 1850Kingsley Alt. Locke x, I looked with horror on the gulf of penury before me, into the vortex of which not only I, but my whole trade, seemed irresistibly sucked. a1862Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. v. 356 Generation after generation passes away, successively absorbed in one mighty vortex.
†6. A design or figure representing or suggesting vortical movement. Obs.—1
1665Hooke Microgr. Time Table, The Figures of Hoar Frost, and the Vortices on windows.
7. attrib., chiefly in terms of physical science, as vortex-atom, vortex-filament, vortex-line, vortex-matter, vortex-motion, vortex-ring; vortex shedding, the periodic detachment of vortices from an object in a fluid flow, causing a varying force to be experienced by the object; vortex sheet, a region of vortices that is created at the interface of two masses of fluid having different velocities along the interface; vortex street: see street n. 2 g; vortex turbine or (water-)wheel, a turbine in which the water enters tangentially at the circumference and is discharged at the centre.
1867Sir W. Thomson in Phil. Mag. Ser. iv. XXXIV. 15 (heading), On *Vortex Atoms. 1876P. G. Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci. i. 24 Sir W. Thomson's splendid suggestion of Vortex-atoms..will enable us thoroughly to understand matter.
1867― (tr. Helmholtz) in Phil. Mag. Ser. iv. XXXIII. 486 By *vortex-filaments..I denote portions of the fluid bounded by vortex-lines drawn through every point of the boundary of an infinitely small closed curve. 1878W. K. Clifford Dynamic iii. 203 The part of the body inside the tube is called a vortex-filament.
1867Tait (tr. Helmholtz) in Phil. Mag. Ser. iv. XXXIII. 486 By *vortex-lines..I denote lines drawn through the fluid so as at every point to coincide with the instantaneous axis of rotation of the corresponding fluid element. 1878W. K. Clifford Dynamic iii. 200 A curve such that its tangent at every point is in the direction of the spin at that point is called a vortex-line.
a1721J. Keill Maupertuis' Diss. (1734) 21 As each Planet describes equal Area's in equal Times, it follows that the Beds of the *Vortex Matter have their Velocities in a reciprocal Proportion to their distances from the Center.
1867Tait (tr. Helmholtz) in Phil. Mag. Ser. iv. XXXIII. 491 We may..call the motions which have no velocity-potential, generally, *vortex-motions. 1876― Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci. xii. 290 The peculiar properties of vortex-motion were mathematically deduced..by Helmholtz.
1867― (tr. Helmholtz) in Phil. Mag. Ser. iv. XXXIII. 510 These *vortex-rings travel on,..and are widened or contracted by other vortex-rings. 1878W. K. Clifford Dynamic iii. 205 Suppose that in a mass of fluid there is a single vortex ring of any form (i.e. a vortex-filament returning into itself).
1953A. Roshko Devel. Turbulent Wakes from Vortex Streets (U.S. Nat. Advisory Comm. Aeronaut. TN 2913) 45 There is yet no adequate theory of the periodic *vortex shedding and it is not clear what is the principal mechanism which determines the frequency. 1975Offshore Engineer Dec. 42/1 Vortex shedding can impose periodic forces on a pipeline. 1982New Scientist 27 May 566/1 Vortex shedding is quite harmless until it begins to interfere with the safety or the function of man-made structures.
1879H. Lamb Treat. Math. Theory Motion Fluids vi. 154 Let us suppose we have a series of vortex-filaments arranged in a thin film over a surface... The infinitely thin film is then called a ‘*vortex-sheet’. 1926[see separation 15]. 1983Jrnl. Fluids Engin. CV. 53 Nascent vortex strength and position are determined from the Kutta condition so that the nascent vortex has the same strength as a vortex sheet of uniform strength.
1877Iron 27 Oct. 516 The turbine manufactured by them is termed the ‘*Vortex’. 1884Athenæum 16 Aug. 212/1 A description of the vortex turbine or inward-flow water-wheel.
1853Glynn Treat. Power Water 146 Several machines derive their power from the reaction of water-pressure: such as Dr. Barker's mill,..the *Vortex-wheel, and others. 1860Ure's Dict. Arts, etc. (ed. 5) III. 928 The name of Vortex Wheel has been given to a modification of the turbine by Mr. James Thomson of Belfast. |
