Noun

1. A rotating frame, containing the escapement of a clock or watch, that attempts to compensate for the effects of gravity.
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 514:

     Time was vulnerable to the force of gravity. So Breguet came up with the tourbillon, which isolated the balance wheel and escarpment off on a little platform of their own

Noun

1. whirlwind
2. eddy, whirlpool
3. vortex
4. whirl, whirlwind, maelstrom