| vortex | Origin: L. Vortex, vertex, -icis, fr. Vortere, vertere, to turn. See Vertex. 1. A mass of fluid, especially of a liquid, having a whirling or circular motion tending to form a cavity or vacuum in the center of the circle, and to draw in towards the center bodies subject to its action; the form assumed by a fluid in such motion; a whirlpool; an eddy. 2. A supposed collection of particles of very subtile matter, endowed with a rapid rotary motion around an axis which was also the axis of a sun or a planet. Descartes attempted to account for the formation of the universe, and the movements of the bodies composing it, by a theory of vortices. 3. <zoology> Any one of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to Vortex and allied genera. <chemistry> Vortex atom, a hypothetical ring-shaped mass of elementary matter in continuous vortical motion. It is conveniently regarded in certain mathematical speculations as the typical form and structure of the chemical atom. Vortex wheel, a kind of turbine. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| vortex coccygeus | A spiral arrangement of coarse hairs sometimes present over the region of the coccyx. Synonym: coccygeal whorl. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vortex cordis | A spiral arrangement of muscular fibres at the apex of the heart. Synonym: vortex cordis, whorl. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vortex lentis | One of the stellar figures on the surface of the lens of the eye. Synonym: vortex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vortex of heart | A spiral arrangement of muscular fibres at the apex of the heart. Synonym: vortex cordis, whorl. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vortex veins | Several veins (usually four) from the vascular tunic formed of veins accompanying the posterior ciliary arteries and the ciliary body; then drain into the superior or inferior ophthalmic vein. Synonym: venae vorticosae, venae choroideae oculi, choroid veins of eye, Stensen's veins, vasa vorticosa, vorticose veins. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Fleischer's vortex | Congenital whorl-like opacities in the cornea. Synonym: Fleischer's vortex. (05 Mar 2000) |