HURRICANE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hurricane mean? 

• HURRICANE (noun)
  The noun HURRICANE has 1 sense:

1. a severe tropical cyclone usually with heavy rains and winds moving at 63-136 knots (12 on the Beaufort scale)

  Familiarity information: HURRICANE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HURRICANE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A severe tropical cyclone usually with heavy rains and winds moving at 63-136 knots (12 on the Beaufort scale)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("hurricane" is a kind of...):

cyclone (a violent rotating windstorm)

Holonyms ("hurricane" is a part of...):

Beaufort scale; wind scale (an international scale of wind force from 0 (calm air) to 12 (hurricane))

 Context examples 

Hurricanes and tropical storms can also spawn tornadoes and lead to flooding.

(Hurricanes, Federal Emergency Management Agency)

Anne, judging from her own temperament, would have deemed such a domestic hurricane a bad restorative of the nerves, which Louisa's illness must have so greatly shaken.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Observations show that recent polynyas resulted from unusual ocean conditions, and intense storms that swirled over the Weddell Sea with winds that were nearly hurricane force.

(Data from robotic drifters explain mysterious holes in Antarctic sea ice, National Science Foundation)

“It has been pouring rain and blowing a hurricane ever since,” said he.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He spoke of his friend's dislike of the burning heats, the hurricanes, and rainy seasons of that region.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Tragically, the disasters claimed a total of 138 lives: • 1 drought (affected multiple areas);
• 1 wildfire (affected multiple areas); • 4 inland floods;
• 8 severe storms; and
• 1 hurricane (Matthew).

(2016 was 2nd warmest year on record for U.S., NOAA)

GOES-R data will help improve hurricane tracking and intensity forecasts, the prediction and warnings of severe weather, including tornadoes and thunderstorms.

(GOES-R heads to orbit, will improve weather forecasting, NOAA)

Weather such as heavy rain, thunderstorms, or hurricanes can cause flooding.

(Floods, Federal Emergency Management Agency)

A record of sediment deposits from Cape Cod, Mass., shows evidence that 23 severe hurricanes hit New England between the years 250 and 1150, the equivalent of a severe storm about once every 40 years on average.

(Monster hurricanes struck U.S. Northeast during prehistoric periods of ocean warming, NSF)

Because the biologists used computational simulations, they were able to look at the full range of potential hurricane sizes — from storms that caused no bird deaths to storms that were more severe.

(Coastal birds can weather the storm, but not the sea, National Science Foundation)