Chaos as dry air swirling (8)
I believe the answer is:
disarray
'chaos' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'as dry air swirling' is the wordplay.
'swirling' is an anagram indicator (letters get swirled around).
'as'+'dry'+'air'='asdryair'
'asdryair' is an anagram of 'DISARRAY'.
(Other definitions for disarray that I've seen before include "confusion?" , "mess" , "Clutter and disorder" , "Jumble and disorder" , "State of disorganisation or untidiness" .)