whirlpool

n. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. An eddy or vortex of water; a place in a body of water where the water moves round in a circle so as to produce a depression or cavity in the center, into which floating objects may be drawn; any body of water having a more or less circular motion caused by its flowing in an irregular channel, by the coming together of opposing currents, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sea monster of the whale kind. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are; among which the whales and whirlpools, called “balaenae, ” take up in length as much as four . . . arpents of land. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]