death spiral

American

noun

(in pair skating) a dramatic movement in which the man spins his partner around him in a gradually increasing radius while he spins in place, holding the extended arm of the woman, who revolves around him on one skate with the other leg stretched out and gradually lowers herself backward until she is just above the ice surface.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The report lays out a death spiral for the economy in which AI displaces white-collar workers, who are then unemployed and have no money to spend, which causes economic ruin.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

A death spiral ultimately did it in: Unpaid suppliers cut shipments.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026

Scientists call this death spiral the human-grass-fire cycle.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2025

Despite billions in investments, TerraUSD and Luna went into a death spiral in May 2022.

From BBC • Dec. 27, 2024

How did 23andMe go from the peak of the double-helix to a death spiral?

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023