tailspin

== English == === Etymology === From tail +‎ spin. === Noun === tailspin (plural tailspins) (aviation) The rapid, uncontrollable descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral. (figuratively) A severe mental or emotional collapse; emotional breakdown. (figuratively) Any sharp, sustained, often uncontrollable descent or decline. 2010 September, Chris Sommers, "Merge", St. Louis magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 77: St. Louis, the fourth-largest U.S. city in 1900, is fading fast […] . Jobs, and airline, an educated population—all gone or in a tailspin. ==== Translations ==== === Verb === tailspin (third-person singular simple present tailspins, present participle tailspinning, simple past and past participle tailspun or tailspinned) Of an aircraft: to go into a rapid, uncontrollable descent in a steep spiral. (figurative) To go into a sharp, sustained, often uncontrollable descent or decline. ==== Translations ==== === See also === downward spiral nosedive === Anagrams === alpinist, anti-slip, antislip, pintails, tailpins