ˈmālztrəm, -lst- also -lzˌträm or -lˌsträm noun
( -s )
Etymology: obsolete Dutch (now maalstroom ), from malen to grind, turn (from Middle Dutch) + strom stream, from Middle Dutch strōm; akin to Old High German malan to grind, and to Old High German stroum, strōm stream — more at meal , stream
1. : a powerful often destructive water current that usually moves in a circular direction with extreme rapidity sucking in objects within a given radius : whirlpool
tried to shoot the canoe across a stretch of treacherous maelstrom — Harper's
2. : something resembling a maelstrom
the ancient taboos were gone, lost in the maelstrom of war — Coulton Waugh
childhood playmates in the country … later separated in the maelstrom of city life — J.D.Hart
couldn't fuse his thoughts out of the maelstrom of thinking — Herbert Elliston