Definition of "tailspin" in English

noun

1. (aviation) The rapid, uncontrollable descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral.

   • The loss of the third engine threw the plane into a tailspin.

2. (figuratively) A severe mental or emotional collapse; emotional breakdown.

   • Just hours after leaving the institution, she suffered another tailspin.

3. (figuratively) Any sharp, sustained, often uncontrollable descent or decline.

   • The present stock tailspin proves bankruptcy is imminent.
   • 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.

verb

1. Of an aircraft: to go into a rapid, uncontrollable descent in a steep spiral.

2. (figurative) To go into a sharp, sustained, often uncontrollable descent or decline.