26984 words

spiraling

15 definitions • 25 examples
1
a shape made up of curves, each one above or wider than the one before:

Examples:

spiral-shaped A corkscrew is spiral-shaped.
2
a situation in which a price, etc. becomes lower, or a situation gets worse and is difficult to control because one bad event causes another:

Examples:

This year's downward spiral of house prices has depressed the market.
3
in American football, a kick or throw of the ball that spins on its long axis (= imaginary straight line going through the centre of an object that is spinning) as it is thrown in the air:

Examples:

The quarterback threw a perfect spiral into the hands of the wide receiver.
4
to move in a spiral:

Examples:

With one wing damaged, the model airplane spiralled downwards.
5
If costs, prices, etc. spiral, they increase faster and faster:

Examples:

Spiralling costs have squeezed profits.
6
(of prices, etc.) to become less, at a faster and faster rate:

Examples:

Employees were demanding higher wages at a time when productivity was spiralling downwards.
7
If a situation spirals, it quickly gets worse in a way that becomes more and more difficult to control:

Examples:

spiral out of control Violence in the country is threatening to spiral out of control.
spiral into The housing slump has spiralled into a credit crisis.
8
If a person spirals, their mental health becomes worse. :

Examples:

He has learnt to recognize when he is spiralling.
spiral into She spiralled into depression after the death of her brother.
9
shaped in a series of curves, each one above or wider than the one before:

Examples:

10
a shape of a continuous, curving line that forms circles around a center point:

Examples:

A corkscrew is made in a spiral.
fig. Roy was bitter about the downward spiral of his life (= it was becoming continuously worse).
11
to move in a spiral:

Examples:

The engine quit, and my beautiful model airplane spiraled downward.
High winds spiraled around the storm center.
12
a situation in which prices, levels, rates, etc. go down, or in which a situation gets worse and is difficult to control because one bad event causes another:

Examples:

a spiral of sth The world's two biggest economies are caught in a spiral of borrowing.
This year's downward spiral of house prices has depressed the market.
My former colleagues have been stuck in a spiral that continues to say, the only way we can continue our profit margins is to cut good journalism, and that is to me a death spiral.
13
if costs, prices, etc. spiral, they increase quickly:

Examples:

Costs spiral, and the patient is subjected to tests they don't need.
spiral (from sth) to sth The country's foreign debt spiralled from $840 million to $2.6 billion.
14
if costs, prices, etc. spiral downwards, they go down quickly:

Examples:

Stock prices have spiralled downwards for the past two weeks.
15
if a situation spirals out of control, it becomes impossible to control because one bad event causes another:

Examples:

The project spiraled out of control, running $300 million over budget.
There is a great deal of evidence that internet gambling is spiralling rapidly out of control.

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