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• power dive
  power dive

  noun

  a dive, especially a steep dive, by an aircraft in which the engine or engines are delivering thrust at or near full power.
• power-dive
  power-dive

  verb (used with or without object)

  to cause to perform or to perform a power dive.

power dive

¹ American  

noun

Aeronautics.

1. a dive, especially a steep dive, by an aircraft in which the engine or engines are delivering thrust at or near full power.

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power-dive ² American  

[pou-er-dahyv] / ˈpaʊ ərˌdaɪv /

verb (used with or without object)

Aeronautics.

power-dived, power-dove, power-dived, power-diving

1. to cause to perform or to perform a power dive.

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power dive British  

noun

1. a steep dive by an aircraft with its engines at high power

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verb

1. to cause (an aircraft) to perform a power dive or (of an aircraft) to perform a power dive

Etymology

Origin of power dive¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Origin of power-dive²

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

One of the commonest reactions was a sharp power dive into the grass.

From Time Magazine Archive

Many military planes can plunge in a power dive, faster & faster until the needle of the airspeed indicator creeps close to the dread red mark of "compressibility."

From Time Magazine Archive

The power dive came after Tokyo's Nikkei stock average tumbled 653.36 points, to 37,516.77, the steepest one-day drop in two years.

From Time Magazine Archive

The pictures show the hood being driven into Pilot Bayles' face by the wind pressure during his power dive at the beginning of the straightaway.

From Time Magazine Archive

The yelping of the Ya-men whirled away in unimaginable distances, and for a second I felt the unmerciful blackout of a power dive, with blood breaking from my nostrils and filling my mouth.

From The Door Through Space by Bradley, Marion Zimmer