whirlwind

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A rapidly rotating, generally vertical column of air, such as a tornado, dust devil, or waterspout.
2. n. A tumultuous, confused rush.
3. n. A destructive force or thing.
4. adj. Tumultuous or rapid: a whirlwind political campaign.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A wind moving in a circumscribed circularpath; amass of air, of which the height is generally very great in comparison with its width, rotating rapidly round a vertical or slightly inclined axis, this axis having at the same time a progressive motion over the surface of the land or Sea. Whirlwinds vary greatly in dimensions and intensity, the term including the miniature eddy that circles in the dusty street, the towering sand-pillars of the tropical deserts, the waterspout formed over bodies of water, and the destructive tornado of the United States. They arise when the atmosphere is in a condition of instability, and are one of the processes by which a stable condition is regained.
2. n. Figuratively, any wild circling rush resembling a whirlwind.

Wiktionary

1. n. A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It usually has a rapid progressive motion.
2. n. figuratively A person or body of objects or events sweeping violently onward.
3. adj. Rapid and minimal: a whirlwind tour, a whirlwind guide.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It usually has a rapid progressive motion.
2. n. Fig.: A body of objects sweeping violently onward.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a more or less vertical column of air whirling around itself as it moves over the surface of the Earth