spiral

American  

[spahy-ruhl] / ˈspaɪ rəl /

noun

• spirals
  plural

1. Geometry. a plane curve generated by a point moving around a fixed point while constantly receding from or approaching it.

2. a helix.

3. a single circle or ring of a spiral or helical curve or object.

4. a spiral or helical object, formation, or form.

5. Aeronautics. a maneuver in which an airplane descends in a helix of small pitch and large radius, with the angle of attack within that of the normal flight range.

6. Football. a type of kick or pass in which the ball turns on its longer axis as it flies through the air.

7. Economics. a continuous increase in costs, wages, prices, etc. inflationary spiral, or a decrease in costs, wages, prices, etc. deflationary spiral.

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adjective

1. running continuously around a fixed point or center while constantly receding from or approaching it; coiling in a single plane.

   a spiral curve.

2. coiling around a fixed line or axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical.

3. of or of the nature of a spire or coil.

4. bound with a spiral binding; spiral-bound.

   a spiral notebook.

verb (used without object)

• spirals,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spiraled,
  past participle,  past
• spiralled,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• spiraling,
  present participle
• spiralling
  present participle (especially British)

1. to take a spiral form or course.

2. to advance or increase steadily; rise.

   Costs have been spiraling all year.

3. Aeronautics. to fly an airplane through a spiral course.

verb (used with object)

• spirals,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spiraled,
  past participle,  past
• spiralled,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• spiraling,
  present participle
• spiralling
  present participle (especially British)

1. to cause to take a spiral form or course.

spiral British  

/ ˈspaɪərəl /

noun

1. geometry one of several plane curves formed by a point winding about a fixed point at an ever-increasing distance from it. Polar equation of Archimedes spiral: r = a θ; of logarithmic spiral: log r = a θ; of hyperbolic spiral: r θ = a, (where a is a constant)

2. another name for helix

3. something that pursues a winding, usually upward, course or that displays a twisting form or shape

4. a flight manoeuvre in which an aircraft descends describing a helix of comparatively large radius with the angle of attack within the normal flight range Compare spin

5. economics a continuous upward or downward movement in economic activity or prices, caused by interaction between prices, wages, demand, and production

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adjective

1. having the shape of a spiral

verb

1. to assume or cause to assume a spiral course or shape

2. (intr) to increase or decrease with steady acceleration

   wages and prices continue to spiral

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spirality
  noun
• multispiral
  adjective
• nonspiral
  adjective
• subspiral
  adjective
• unspiral
  adjective
• unspiraled
  adjective
• unspiralled
  adjective
• spirally
  adverb
• subspirally
  adverb
• unspirally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spirals
  plural

Participles

• spiraling
  present
• spiralling
  present
• spiraled
  past
• spiralled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• spiral
  simple
• spirals
  simple
• have spiraled
  perfect
• have spiralled
  perfect
• has spiraled
  perfect
• has spiralled
  perfect
• am spiraling
  progressive
• am spiralling
  progressive
• are spiraling
  progressive
• are spiralling
  progressive
• is spiraling
  progressive
• is spiralling
  progressive
• have been spiraling
  perfect progressive
• have been spiralling
  perfect progressive
• has been spiraling
  perfect progressive
• has been spiralling
  perfect progressive

Past

• spiraled
  simple
• spiralled
  simple
• had spiraled
  perfect
• had spiralled
  perfect
• was spiraling
  progressive
• was spiralling
  progressive
• were spiraling
  progressive
• were spiralling
  progressive
• had been spiraling
  perfect progressive
• had been spiralling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will spiral
  simple
• will have spiraled
  perfect
• will have spiralled
  perfect
• will be spiraling
  progressive
• will be spiralling
  progressive
• will have been spiraling
  perfect progressive
• will have been spiralling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of spiral

1545–55; < Medieval Latin spīrālis, equivalent to Latin spīr ( a ) coil (< Greek speîra anything coiled, wreathed, or twisted; see spire ²) + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

A spiral is a coil or curl, like the shape of a piece of hair wound around your finger, a Slinky toy, or a corkscrew. A curve forming a series of circles that become gradually larger or smaller is one kind of spiral. You can also use the word as a verb when something moves in a spiral shape: "Then the wind died and I watched my kite spiral down to the ground." The origin of spiral is the Medieval Latin spiralis, which means "winding or coiling," from a Greek root: speira, "coil, twist, or wreath."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spiral spirals spiraled spiralled spiraling spiralling

The bigger the logjam gets, the harder it will be to raise new funds, reducing the fee income private-equity firms rely on, a cycle that can spiral.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

But things quickly spiral beyond clear narrative recognition, as piecing together the story becomes a puzzle unto itself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

But the takeover accelerated the center’s downward spiral in ticket sales and fundraising.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Those patterns, according to the model, would help neighboring DNA molecules align with one another much like two interlocking spiral staircases.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

A spiral stairway wound around the exterior, mounting to the summit where an inner sanctuary contained an elaborately adorned couch and gold table.

From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell

However, for North Sea facing coasts, as an area of low pressure spirals away it will be blustery with locally strong north-westerly winds and early showers.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

An international research team led by scientists in Canada has uncovered a likely explanation for one of the more unusual features of snake development: why embryos curl into tight spirals before hatching.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026

Other countries have fallen victim to debt spirals, where high levels of debt lead investors to demand higher interest rates, in turn fueling more borrowing until eventually a country defaults.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Roll it out cinnamon-roll style, spread with cream cheese, Parmesan, herbs and hot giardiniera, then coil, slice and nestle the spirals together in a buttered skillet.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Other clusters with a far more disordered geometry have, comparatively, many more spirals and irregulars.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

After that, he said, his mental health spiraled.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Material pulled from the star formed a disk around the black hole and became intensely hot as it spiraled inward.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

The Sparks easily could have spiraled following Monday’s disaster in Seattle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026

More than a million people are out of work, food prices have soared and the national currency has spiraled to record lows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

There was a deafening screech, little bodies fell, and a ship spiraled out of sight, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

The campaigns come one year after protests over lavish perks for lawmakers spiralled into general anti-government anger -- Indonesia's biggest unrest since President Prabowo Subianto took office in 2024.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

"I needed therapy because my mental health had spiralled way out of control... but I never understood why," said Mellissa.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Burns said in the beginning UWP was legitimate, but Long's actions spiralled out of control due to poor business management and he began using his client's money to keep the company afloat.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

But over the years it borrowed heavily and its total debt has spiralled beyond £20bn.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

Then their sire launched himself upward and spiralled into the night.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

But on that day, the Wolverines’ punter could almost be forgiven for fumbling a long snap that came spiraling toward him in frigid autumn conditions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

“They aren’t hiking because inflation is spiraling higher or inflation expectations are becoming un-anchored,” she said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

The most widely accepted astrophysical explanation for this background is a population of supermassive black hole binaries gradually spiraling inward.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

Across the UK, council chiefs said budgets were being severely stretched by the spiraling cost of providing care, homelessness services and supporting looked after children as well as providing home to school transport.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

I kept spiraling, and I kept going to the counselor.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

Scottish Conservative MP Andrew Bowie said "plummeting teacher numbers and spiralling levels of school violence" had made it a difficult year for pupils.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

It is among a host of tech firms to have told consumers that spiralling component costs mean they must charge more, with rival Sony hiking PlayStation 5 prices by £90 in March.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at Forex.com, said: "One can easily imagine the situation spiralling quite rapidly."

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

But many also stayed away, hurting from two wars in less than a year, inflation spiralling at around 80%, and the pain of January's anti-government protests.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Together they performed the peregrine courtship dance, swooping low, zooming high, then spiralling earthward.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Related Words

• circling
• coiled