tailspin
pronunciation
How to pronounce tailspin in British English:
UK [ˈteɪlspɪn]
How to pronounce tailspin in American English:
US [ˈtelˌspɪn]
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- Noun:
- loss of emotional control often resulting in emotional collapse
- rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral
Word Origin
- tailspin (n.)
- "downward spiraling dive of an aircraft," 1916, from tail (n.1) + spin (n.). Figurative sense of "state of loss of control" is from 1928.
Example
- 1. Any decline in oil prices would send the economy into a tailspin .
- 2. An accident leads to a disconcerting revelation that throws sam into a mental tailspin .
- 3. Not surprisingly , the prospect of dressing down in a work situation is enough to send even the most aesthetically unconcerned of us into a sartorial tailspin .
- 4. As a result , the movie industry was in a tailspin and hemorrhaging money .
- 5. But the trick is to do this without sending japan 's relations with china into a tailspin .