Science & Tech > Earth > Winds

Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.

aeolian eolian relating to erosion or transportation by wind; giving forth or marked by a moaning or sighing sound or musical tone produced by or as if by the wind. [L. Aeolus, from Gk. Aiolos god of the winds].
anabatic of winds, rising, moving upwards. Cf. KATABATIC.
anemology the study of winds.
antitrade a contrary wind blowing at a high altitude above the trade wind.
aquilon the north wind.
baguio a hurricane. Pl. BAGUIOS.
bayamo a strong wind. Pl. BAYAMOS.
bhoot bhut a small whirlwind.
bise bize a cold dry northerly wind, mainly prevalent in spring, that occurs in and near Switzerland
blasty characterised by gusts of wind > BLASTIER, BLASTIEST.
blatter a clattering rainy blast of wind; (verb) to beat like rain on a window.
blizzard a snowstorm > BLIZZARDY, BLIZZARDLY; (verb) to rage like a blizzard BLIZZARDED, BLIZZARDING.
blore a violent gust of wind; a bleating or braying.
blowy windy, gusty > BLOWIER, BLOWIEST.
bora a violent cold North wind that blows from the mountains (usually in the winter) towards the East coast of the Adriatic.
boreas (Lat.) the north wind.
bourasque a tempest.
breeze a light wind; (verb) to blow as or like a breeze.
breezy like a breeze > BREEZIER, BREEZIEST.
brickfielder a hot dry wind in Australia.
bura buran in central Asia, a blizzard blowing from the North, or a summer wind from the North that causes dust storms.
buster a sudden violent cold wind that blows on the SE coast of Australia.
calima a dust storm or cloud that spreads from the Sahara into southern Europe.
catspaw a light breeze forming riples on the water's surface.
chili the sirocco in the region of Tunisia. Pl. CHILIES or CHILIS.
chinook a warm dry wind that descends the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
chubasco a violent thunderstorm. Pl. CHUBASCOS.
crosswind a wind blowing across one's direction of travel.
cyclonal cyclonic cyclonical of or like a CYCLONE.
cyclone a circular storm.
derecho a line of intense widespread windstorms.
doldrums those parts of the ocean near the equator where calm and baffling winds prevail. N.B. there is no singular DOLDRUM*.
downburst a sudden violent downward rush of air associated with thunderstorms. Also MICROBURST.
downdraft a current of air downwards. N.B. there is no DOWNDRAUGHT*.
easterly an easterly wind.
equinoctial a gale that occurs about the time of the equinox.
etesian a NW wind that recurs annually in the summer in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea.
favonian of or relating to the west wind; mild and favourable. [L. favonius, west wind; the Latin names of the four winds were Favonius (or Zephyr), Notus (or Auster), Boreas (or Aquilo), and Eurus].
foehn fohn a hot dry wind that blows down Alpine valleys.
forewind a wind from the forequarter.
gale a strong wind.
ghibli gibli the name in Libya of the SCIROCCO, a hot, dry, dusty wind blowing from North Africa to the North Mediterranean coastline.
gregale a northeast wind in the Mediterranean. [Ital. fr. L. graecus, Greek].
gust a sudden blast of wind; (verb) to blow in gusts.
gustily in a gusty manner.
gustiness the state of being gusty.
gusty like a gust > GUSTIER, GUSTIEST.
haboob a violent dust storm or sandstorm, especially in Sudan along the southern edges of the Sahara. [Arabic habub].
harmattan a dry dusty wind from the Sahara blowing towards the W. African coast.
headwind a wind blowing contrary to one's direction of travel.
hurricane a violent tropical storm.
hurricano a hurricane. Pl. HURRICANOES.
jetstream a narrow belt of high-altitude winds (about 12 000 metres high) moving east at high speeds and having an important effect on FRONTOGENESIS.
kamikaze in Japanese tradition, the gale that destroyed the fleet of the invading Mongols in 1281.
kamseen kamsin khamseen khamsin the sirocco in Egypt, a hot southerly wind that usually blows from about March to May.
katabatic catabatic moving downhill, sinking (of winds). Cf. ANABATIC.
landwind a wind blowing off the land. N.B. there is no SEAWIND*.
levanter a boisterous easterly wind in the West Mediterranean area that often occurs in the summer.
libecchio libeccio a strong westerly (or southwesterly) wind that blows on to Corsica's western coast.
megastorm a very large storm.
meltemi (Mod. Greek.) a northerly wind in the NE Mediterranean > MELTEMIS.
microburst a sudden violent downward rush of air associated with thunderstorms. Also DOWNBURST.
mistral a strong cold dry north-east wind that blows through the Rhone valley towards the Mediterranean.
monsoon a wind system in Southeast Asia which changes direction seasonally, creating wet and dry seasons.
monsoonal relating to a MONSOON.
northerly a northerly wind.
pampero a violent SW wind on and from the pampas > PAMPEROS.
ponent (Milton) the west; a west wind.
prester a blasting whirlwind.
puna a high bleak plateau in the Peruvian Andes; a cold wind of the Andes that blows there. [Amer. Sp., f. Quechua.]
samiel a hot sand-laden wind of the Arabian and North African deserts. Aka SIMOOM and SIMOON.
sandblast a sand-laden wind.
sandspout a moving pillar of sand drawn up in a whirlwind.
sandstorm a strong wind that whips up clouds of sand, esp. in a desert.
sansar sarsar a cold whistling wind.
sciroc scirocco siroc sirocco a hot, dry, dusty wind blowing from North Africa to the North Mediterranean coastline.
shamal shimaal in the Middle East, a hot dry north wind that carries sand in desert places.
simoom simoon a hot desert wind in Arabia.
slant a transitory breeze.
sniffler a light breeze.
solano a hot, dry south-easterly wind (often sand-laden) that brings suffocating weather over the Andalusian Plain in N. Spain.
southeaster a south-east wind.
souther a strong wind, gale, or storm from the south; (verb) to shift or veer southwards.
southerly a southerly wind.
squall a sudden strong wind or brief turbulent storm; (verb) to blow in a squall.
squallish like a SQUALL.
suete a southeasterly wind in areas of Cape Breton island.
sumatra a brief violent squall that emanates from Sumatra. It occurs in or near the Straits of Malacca.
supercell an unusually large storm cell or storm generated by such a cell.
superstorm an extremely powerful storm that causes widespread devastation.
tailwind a wind from the rear.
tebbad a sandstorm. [Persian 'fever wind'].
tempest a violent wind or storm; (verb) of the wind etc., to be violently strong, rage.
thermal an ascending current of warm air, used by birds and gliders to gain height.
tornade (poet.) a tornado.
tornadic relating to a tornado.
tornado a violent storm over a limited area, with whirling winds, a cyclone. Pl. TORNADOS or TORNADOES.
tourbillion tourbillon a whirlwind; any whirling object.
tramontana tramontane a cold north wind in Italy.
twister a tornado.
typhon a whirlwind. [From Typhon son of Typhoeus, later identified with him, father of dangerous winds].
typhonian typhonic relating to a typhoon.
typhoon a violent cyclonic storm of the China Sea. [Chinese t'ai fung, big wind].
westerly a wind blowing from the west.
whirlblast a whirling blast of wind.
whirlwind a column of air whirling around and towards a more or less vertical axis of low pressure, which moves along the land or ocean surface.
whirly a small tornado.
whither wuther to blow strongly with a roaring sound.
williwau williwaw willywaw a strong gust of cold wind blowing seawards from a mountainous coast, as in the Straits of Magellan.
windblast a blast of wind.
windblow the blowing down of trees by wind.
windblow the blowing down of trees by wind.
windblown blown by the wind.
windlessness the state of being without wind.
windstorm a storm of wind.
windswept swept by the wind.
windthrow the blowing down of trees by wind.
zephyr a soft or gentle breeze; the west wind.
zonda a dry, hot wind blowing from the Andes across the Argentine pampas, during July and August.