4 uses
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Definition
a powerful whirlpool; or any wildly turbulent situation
- But the whale rushed round in a sudden maelstrom; seized the swimmer between his jaws; and rearing high up with him, plunged headlong again, and went down.Chapters 52-54 -- The Albatross; The Gam; The Town-Ho's Story (90% in)
- Then tossing both arms, with measureless imprecations he shouted out: "Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up.Chapters 34-36 -- The Cabin-Table; The Mast-Head; The Qarter-Deck--Ahab and all (79% in)
- So close did the monster come to the hull, that at first it seemed as if he meant it malice; but suddenly going down in a maelstrom, within three rods of the planks, he wholly disappeared from view, as if diving under the keel.Chapters 73-75 -- Stubb and Flask Kill a Right Whale; The Sperm Whale's Head, The Right Whale's Head (6% in)
- That instant, the White Whale made a sudden rush among the remaining tangles of the other lines; by so doing, irresistibly dragged the more involved boats of Stubb and Flask towards his flukes; dashed them together like two rolling husks on a surf-beaten beach, and then, diving down into the sea, disappeared in a boiling maelstrom, in which, for a space, the odorous cedar chips of the wrecks danced round and round, like the grated nutmeg in a swiftly stirred bowl of punch.Chapters 133-135 -- The Chase--First Day; The Chase--Second Day; The Chase--Third Day (48% in)
There are no more uses of "maelstrom" in Moby Dick.
Typical Usage
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