From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtornadotor‧na‧do /tɔːˈneɪdəʊ $ tɔːrˈneɪdoʊ/ noun (plural tornadoes or tornados) [countable] HEMan extremely violent storm consisting of air that spins very quickly and causes a lot of damage → hurricane, cyclone► see thesaurus at storm, wind
Examples from the Corpus
tornado• This was an activity not much favoured at Verdun, as it invariably attracted a tornado of enemy fire.• In Escondido, a pilot reported seeing a funnel cloud, which would have become a tornado had it touched down.• When Kathleen arrived, she burst into the coffee shop like a tornado.• A storm of pain ripped through her like the indigo fingers of a tornado and carried her out on to a midnight sea.• A tornado destroyed twelve homes in Ashport, Tennessee yesterday.• Story: Rival scientists battle to place scientific equipment in the path of a raging tornado.• As well as the tornado deaths, two others died in blizzard conditions in Indiana and Wisconsin.Origin tornado (1500-1600) Spanish tronada “thunderstorm”, from tronar “to thunder”, from Latin tonare; influenced by Spanish tornado, past participle of tornar “to turn” 