whirlwind

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A rapidly rotating, generally vertical column of air, such as a tornado, dust devil, or waterspout.
• noun A tumultuous, confused rush.
• noun A destructive force or thing.
• adjective Tumultuous or rapid.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A wind moving in a circumscribed circularpath; amass of air, of which the height is generally very great in comparison with its width, rotating rapidly round a vertical or slightly inclined axis, this axis having at the same time a progressive motion over the surface of the land or Sea.
• noun Figuratively, any wild circling rush resembling a whirlwind.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It usually has a rapid progressive motion.
• noun Fig.: A body of objects sweeping violently onward.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It usually has a rapid progressive motion.
• noun figuratively A person or body of objects or events sweeping violently onward.
• adjective Rapid and minimal: a whirlwind tour, a whirlwind guide.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a more or less vertical column of air whirling around itself as it moves over the surface of the Earth