tornado

/tɔːˈneɪdəʊ/ (bre, ipa) · /tɔːrˈneɪdəʊ/ (ame, ipa) · /tȯr-ˈnā-(ˌ)dō/ (ame, mw)

tornado — noun

  • tornadosingular
  • tornadoesplural

1. a very powerful, fast-spinning column of air that reaches from a thunderstorm cl

1.名詞B1
釋義

a very powerful, fast-spinning column of air that reaches from a thunderstorm cloud down to the ground and can cause serious damage to buildings, trees, and vehicles while sweeping across the land.

例句

The tornado destroyed several homes in the small town of Oakville last night.

tornado + destroyed — common verb collocation

Zola and her family hid in the basement when they heard the tornado warning.

tornado warning — compound noun for alerts

同義詞
  • twister

    informal, especially in American English; refers to the same phenomenon

  • cyclone

    broader term for any large-scale rotating storm system; technically a different weather phenomenon

  • whirlwind

    less destructive, usually smaller rotating column of air; can describe any spinning wind

用法筆記

The plural form is most commonly tornadoes (less often tornados). In weather reports, tornadoes are ranked by the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale from EF0 (weakest) to EF5 (strongest).

常見錯誤

❌A tornado forms over warm ocean water.
✅A tornado forms over land during a thunderstorm.
💡Hurricanes form over oceans, but tornadoes form on land from storm clouds.