Sunday, May 24, 2009

Eddies, whorls, prow

At one point he turned to watch eddies and whorls made by the oar blade and stern and when he turned back, Sarayu was sitting in the prow, looking at him. [2, p. 197]

An eddy is a current that's going in a different direction from the main current within a medium, such as water in a lake or even a body of gas. Just think of a small whirlpool, if you like.

A whorl is something with radial symmetry, but the things arranged along the central axis need not be perpendicular to the axis. Think of a pinwheel. Whorl is also associated with things in a spiral formation. Another word for a whorl is a verticil.

The prow is simply the front part of a boat or ship. In this context, it is also also known as the bow.

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