Arrangement of surface ocean currents into a large macro-scale circular pattern of flow.  

a circular current in the oceanSeveral major sea currents also converge in the gyre and bring with them most of the flotsam from the Pacific coasts of Southeast Asia, North America, Canada and Mexico.

mid-15c., "turn (something) away (from something else); rotate" (transitive), "cause to revolve;" also "go in a circle, turn round" (intransitive), from Old French girer [..]

1560s, "a circular motion," from Latin gyrus "circle, circular course, round, ring," from Greek gyros "a circle, ring," related to gyrós "rounded," perhaps from [..]

whirl or gyrate

A great, circular motion of water in each of the major ocean basins centered on subtropical high-pressure region, with circulation clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the sout [..]

a spiral or rotational movement, like a circular air or water current.

Oceanic current systems of planetary scale driven by the global wind system. Source: NOAA-NWS

A large, nearly circular system of wind-driven surface currents that center around latitude 30in both hemispheres. Back to PAE Glossary

Basin-scale ocean horizontal circulation pattern with slow flow circulating around the ocean basin, closed by a strong and narrow (100-200 km wide) boundary current on the western side. The subtropica [..]

(n) a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)

Similar to eddies, gyres are typically much larger, often on the scale of entire ocean basins.

The slow averaged flow of water around an ocean basin centered on subtropical high-pressure regions, with circulation clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphe [..]

 a major circular moving body of water; it is created as boundary currents get deflected by winds and the Coriolis Effect. There are five gyres in our world ocean. Two each in the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans and one in the Indian Ocean. They flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere

Major cyclonic surface current systems in the oceans

Gyre A circular motion. Used mainly in reference to the circular motion of water in each of the major ocean basins centered in subtropical high-pressure regions. Circulation around a subtropical high is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. (See figure, right). There are also sub-polar gyres that rot [..]

rotating ocean current caused by the Coriolis Effect and interactions between water and land. The Coriolis effect acting on these currents causes northern hemisphere gyres to move in a clockwise direc [..]

A circular or spiral motion, primarily referring to water currents.

A closed circulatory system, but larger than a whirlpool or eddy.

A large circular, surface ocean current that results from broadscale atmospheric forcing, eg South Pacific Gyre.