A vortex is a whirling mass of liquid or air that spirals around a center point, like water spinning down a drain or leaves swirling in a circle during a windy day. The plural is vortices or vortexes.

When you watch water drain from a bathtub, you're seeing a vortex form: the water circles faster and faster as it approaches the center, creating that distinctive spiral shape. Tornadoes are powerful vortices of wind that can be incredibly destructive. Dust devils are smaller vortices you might spot on a dry, windy day, spinning dirt and debris in a tall column.

The shape of a vortex appears throughout nature: in hurricanes viewed from space, in the way cream swirls into coffee, even in distant galaxies. Scientists study vortices to understand everything from weather patterns to how airplane wings work. When air flows over a wing, it creates tiny vortices that affect how the plane flies.

People sometimes use vortex metaphorically to describe situations that pull you in and are hard to escape, like getting caught in a vortex of video games when you meant to play for just a few minutes.