noun pl. tornadoes or tornados
- ☆ a violently whirling column of air, with wind speeds of about 100 to 300 miles per hour, extending downward from a cumulonimbus cloud, esp. in Australia and the central U.S.: usually appearing as a rapidly rotating, slender, funnel-shaped cloud and typically causing great destruction along its narrow path
- in W Africa and the adjacent Atlantic, a severe thundersquall
- any whirlwind or hurricane
Origin:
altered (prob. based on Sp tornar, to turn) < Sp tronada, thunder, thunderstorm < tronar, to thunder < L tonare, to thunder