noun

tornado

taw-NAY-doh

noun

A violently spinning column of air that reaches down from a storm cloud to touch the ground, capable of destroying almost everything in its path.

"The tornado tore the roof off the barn in seconds."

"Residents took shelter as the tornado warning sounded."

How to Use Tornado

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA violent, rotating funnel of wind that drops from a storm and can flatten buildings.

Common mistake

A tornado forms over land; a similar storm over water is usually called a waterspout, and a hurricane is a much larger tropical storm system, not the same thing.

Common pairings

tornado warning tornado touched down category of tornado

Word Forms

tornadoed past tense, tornadoes plural, tornados plural, tornados singular

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Fill the Gap

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The _____ tore the roof off the barn in seconds.

Etymology

Traced back to 1550s nautical English "ternado," itself from Spanish tronada ("thunderstorm"), from tronar ("to thunder"), ultimately from Latin tonare. The letters got swapped around (a process called metathesis) under the influence of the similar Spanish word tornar, "to turn."

Rhymes for tornado

ado dado fado mado Sado Prado mikado Dorado avocado Delgado bravado Corrado

See all rhymes for tornado →