tailspinn.
/ˈteɪlspɪn/, U.S. /ˈteɪlˌspɪn/ 1. Aeronautics (originally U.S.). A steep, uncontrolled, spinning descent of an aircraft, following an engine stall. Cf. spin n.1 2d.
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society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > [noun] > spin
spin1915
spinning1915
tailspin1916
flat spin1917
vrille1918
1916 Wing (Royal Navy Air Service) 7 July 8/2 The old hands will remember the clever flying of the former Felixstowe officer, then a Sub., and will recall a certain Schneider tail spin that nearly cut short the career of the daring pilot.
1917 R. Law in Coshocton (Ohio) Morning Tribune 22 May 5/4 Before an aviator is prepared to engage another flier in battle he should know how to..execute a tail spin, a tail slide or any other of the so called stunts.
1917 V. W. Pagé Gloss. Aviation Terms 23 Tail spin.
1919 in C. A. Smith New Words Self-defined 201 I remember when I thought it was time to try a vrille or tail-spin.
1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 17 Jan. 2/5 Collison's airplane went into a tail spin when his motor failed to work.
1953 C. A. Lindbergh Spirit of St. Louis ii. vi. 263 He'd tried to land out of a tailspin—that was asking for a crash.
2001 J. McLean Women with Wings ii. 48 At 1,000 feet, the plane went into a tailspin.
2. A rapid and severe decline or downturn; a state of rapidly worsening chaos, panic, or loss of control.
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the mind > emotion > fear > apprehension > [noun] > panic
frightnessc1425
amaze1587
amazedness1587
terrification1601
panic1640
sauve-qui-peut1815
panic stations1918
tailspin1921
1921 N.Y. Times 24 Nov. 24/1 The abnormal and paradoxical conditions resulting from the [German] mark's tail spin are strikingly illustrated.
1928 R. E. Byrd Let. 24 July in K. W. Rendell Autograph Catal. No. 34 (Kingston Galleries) (1968) 2 I am pretty much in a tail spin which I don't expect to get out of before the main part of the expedition leaves.
1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xv. 183 A dashed shame, he considered, that things had gone into a tail spin for him like that.
a1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1977) III. 867 After my denial of the story that appeared in his Manchester lecture, the poor man came along in a terrible tail-spin to see me.
1991 Football Action '91 11/2 Gorge Welch's club lost a shootout to Georgia Tech at home, sending them into a tailspin..with a three-game losing streak.
2005 Geographical Sept. 42/1 The problem with tourism is that it's lucrative but fragile. The slightest thing happens and the industry goes into a tailspin.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
tailspinv.
/ˈteɪlspɪn/, U.S. /ˈteɪlˌspɪn/ 1. intransitive. Of an aircraft: to perform or undergo a tailspin. Also in extended use of other types of vehicle (rare).
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society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [verb (intransitive)] > fly in spiral path
spiral1916
tailspin1920
1920 Economist (Chicago) 7 Aug. 241/1 (headline) Ace of movie aviators, who fell to death trying to tailspin 1,000 feet in air.
1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xvii. 167 We slithered in the mud, barrel-rolled, tail-spinned, sank to our hocks, and became part of the everlasting scenery.
1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 21 June 1/5 The red and white air craft was about 400 feet in the air a mile from the airport when it suddenly went into a nose dive, then tailspun to the pavement.
2002 Agence France Presse (Nexis) 27 July The Sukhoi-27 jet clipped another aircraft during a manoeuver..and tailspinned to the ground.
2. intransitive. To experience a rapid and severe decline or downturn; to descend into a state of chaos, panic, or loss of control. Often with adverbial complement. Cf. tailspin n. 2.
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the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition > rapidly
nosedive1920
slump1925
tailspin1935
1935 Brainerd (Minnesota) Daily Disp. 7 Nov. 1/7 Republicans proclaim the new deal already is tail-spinning out of control.
1949 Times 28 Oct. 2/5 Were we to go on for ever tail-spinning down to poverty and misery?
1972 M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha iv. 204 I had never seen Virgil so moved or so bitter. It was unlike him to tailspin into such a downer.
1993 Time Internat. 18 Jan. 6/2 Not even the acclaim of history's most extensive cutback in nuclear missiles could compensate for an economy tailspinning into chaos.
2012 Independent on Sunday 4 Mar. (New Review) 10 His career tailspinned as drugs and scandal took hold.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1916v.1920