tornado

UK: /tɔː^rˈneɪdəʊ/ US: /tɔrˈneɪdoʊ/ ,(tôr nā′dō)

Inflections of 'tornado' (n):

tornadoes

npl

tornados

npl

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

tor•na•do /tɔrˈneɪdoʊ/   n. [countable] , pl. -does, -dos. 

1. Meteorology a violently destructive windstorm occurring over local areas of land, having a long, funnel-shaped cloud that extends to the ground.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

tor•na•do  (tôr nā′dō), n., pl. -does, -dos. 

1. a localized, violently destructive windstorm occurring over land, esp. in the Middle West, and characterized by a long, funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground and made visible by condensation and debris. Cf. waterspout (def. 3).
2. a violent squall or whirlwind of small extent, as one of those occurring during the summer on the west coast of Africa.
3. a violent outburst, as of emotion or activity.
4. Military ([cap.] ) a supersonic, two-seat, multipurpose military aircraft produced jointly by West Germany, Britain, and Italy and capable of flying in darkness and bad weather.

• Latin tonāre to thunder; replacing 16th-century ternado, with unexplained e
• Spanish tronada thunderstorm, noun, nominal use of feminine of tronado, past participle of tronar
• 1550–60; apparently by metathesis

tor•nad•ic (tôr nad′ik, -nā′dik), adj.  tor•na ′do•like′, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

tornado / tɔːˈneɪdəʊ/ noun ( -does, -dos)

1. Also called: cyclone, (US and Canadian informal) twister a violent storm with winds whirling around a small area of extremely low pressure, usually characterized by a dark funnel-shaped cloud causing damage along its path
2. a small but violent squall or whirlwind, such as those occurring on the West African coast
3. any violently active or destructive person or thing

Etymology: 16th Century: probably alteration of Spanish tronada thunderstorm (from tronar to thunder, from Latin tonāre), through influence of tornar to turn, from Latin tornāre to turn in a lathe

tornadic / tɔːˈnædɪk/ adjective