tourbillion (torbilyon)

[F. tourbillon, a whirlwind, round when in the air so as to present the appearance of a scroll or a spiral column of fire. tour de force (tör de förs). [F.: tour, turn, act, feat; de, of; force, force, power.] A feat of strength, power, or skill. The execution of the best artists is always a splendid tour - de -force, and much that in painting is supposed to be dependent on material is indeed only a lovely and quite legerdemain. Ruskin, Lectures on Art, tour de maître (tör de ma'tr). [F.: tour, turn, act, feat; de, of; maître, master.] In surg., a method of introducing a catheter into the male bladder, formerly in vogue, but now generally abandoned as dangerous.