Meaning & use
cyclone
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A large, powerful storm with winds that spin around a center of low pressure.
Grammar: Countable; use 'a cyclone' or 'cyclones'.
Patterns
- a cyclone hits something
- a cyclone forms
- the eye of a cyclone
The cyclone destroyed hundreds of homes along the coast.
Meteorologists are tracking a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal.
People were evacuated before the cyclone made landfall.
nouncountabletechnical
A weather system with strong rotating winds, especially in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific.
Grammar: Countable; often used in the phrase 'tropical cyclone'.
Patterns
- tropical cyclone
- a cyclone warning
The tropical cyclone strengthened overnight.
Authorities issued a cyclone warning for coastal areas.
Word forms
| plural | cyclones |
|---|
Common combinations
- tropical cyclone
- A tropical cyclone formed near the equator.
- cyclone warning
- The cyclone warning was lifted after the storm passed.
- cyclone season
- Cyclone season in the region runs from November to April.
- hit by a cyclone
- The island was hit by a cyclone last year.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- cyclonic adjective
- Relating to or caused by a cyclone; e.g., cyclonic winds.
Commonly confused: cyclone or tornado? cyclone or tsunami?
cyclone vs tornado
A tornado is a much smaller, violent funnel of wind over land, while a cyclone is a large storm system over ocean or coast.
cyclone vs tsunami
A tsunami is a huge sea wave caused by an earthquake, not a wind storm.
Practice
Which word is used for the same kind of storm in the North Atlantic?
Choose one answer.
Hurricane is the name for this storm in the North Atlantic; cyclone is used in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, and typhoon in the western Pacific.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cyclone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.