Definition of "sirocco" []

• A hot humid south or southeast wind of southern Italy, Sicily, and the Mediterranean islands, originating in the Sahara Desert as a dry dusty wind but becoming moist as it passes over the Mediterranean. (noun)
• A hot or warm southerly wind, especially one moving toward a low barometric pressure center. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "We had encountered that blasting wind known as the "sirocco" -- the scourge of the Mediterranean -- which after gathering force and heat in the African deserts comes with its fiery and sand-laden breath to sap the moisture from all who have not the natures of salamanders."
• "It is susceptible to hot, dry, dust-laden southern wind called the sirocco or "ghibli" which lasts one to four days in spring and fall; and, from dust storms and sandstorms."
• "The word sirocco does not occur in his pages save once, when he laments its prevalence on the mainland. ""