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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Vortex \Vor"tex\, n.; pl. E. {Vortexes}, L. {Vortices}. [L.
vortex, vertex, -icis, fr. vortere, vertere, to turn. See
{Vertex}.]
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]

2. (Cartesian System) 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.
[1913 Webster]

3. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of small Turbellaria
belonging to {Vortex} and allied genera. See Illustration
in Appendix.
[1913 Webster]

{Vortex atom} (Chem.), a hypothetical ring-shaped mass of
elementary matter in continuous vortical motion. It was
conveniently regarded in certain early mathematical models
as the typical form and structure of the chemical atom,
but is no longer considered a useful model, having been
superseded by quantum mechanics.

{Vortex wheel}, a kind of turbine.
[1913 Webster PJC]