spiral
- Geometry. a plane curve generated by a point moving around a fixed point while constantly receding from or approaching it.
- a helix.
- a single circle or ring of a spiral or helical curve or object.
- a spiral or helical object, formation, or form.
- 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.
- Football. a type of kick or pass in which the ball turns on its longer axis as it flies through the air.
- Economics. a continuous increase in costs, wages, prices, etc. (inflationary spiral), or a decrease in costs, wages, prices, etc. (deflationary spiral).
- running continuously around a fixed point or center while constantly receding from or approaching it; coiling in a single plane: a spiral curve.
- coiling around a fixed line or axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical.
- of or of the nature of a spire or coil.
- bound with a spiral binding; spiral-bound: a spiral notebook.
- to take a spiral form or course.
- to advance or increase steadily; rise: Costs have been spiraling all year.
- Aeronautics. to fly an airplane through a spiral course.
- to cause to take a spiral form or course.
Origin of spiral
Related Words for spiraling
curving, meandering, crooked, tortuous, sinuous, convoluted, labyrinthine, circuitous, serpentine, twisting, spiraling, soaring, growing, increasing, ascending, tighten, swim, whirl, rotateExamples from the Web for spiraling
Contemporary Examples of spiraling
So, only when you have spiraling matter down do you get these ferocious, black hole jets.
Neil deGrasse Tyson Breaks Down ‘Interstellar’: Black Holes, Time Dilations, and Massive WavesMarlow Stern
November 11, 2014
Authorities in Hong Kong, at least for the moment, have lost control of spiraling protests in the city.
Spiraling gun violence has earned Chicago the nickname Chiraq.
Unsurprisingly, Phillips himself seems to be spiraling out of control.
Despite a spiraling rabbit hole of media quibbling about what Huckabee supposedly said, the basic gist of his remarks were clear.
Historical Examples of spiraling
Dragon and Vampire were spiraling away in opposite directions.
The Cosmic ComputerHenry Beam Piper
Stryker lumbered past him and took the controls, spiraling the Marco Four down.
Control GroupRoger Dee
A little cloud of white smoke was spiraling up from the door of a teepee.
Bulldog CarneyW. A. Fraser
Turning to the three boys, he indicated the spiraling slidestairs.
Stand by for Mars!Carey Rockwell
The spiraling pace of change allows us to contemplate, within our own lifetime, advances that once would have taken centuries.
spiral
- 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)
- another name for helix (def. 1)
- something that pursues a winding, usually upward, course or that displays a twisting form or shape
- a flight manoeuvre in which an aircraft descends describing a helix of comparatively large radius with the angle of attack within the normal flight rangeCompare spin (def. 16)
- economics a continuous upward or downward movement in economic activity or prices, caused by interaction between prices, wages, demand, and production
- having the shape of a spiral
- to assume or cause to assume a spiral course or shape
- (intr) to increase or decrease with steady accelerationwages and prices continue to spiral
Word Origin for spiral
Word Origin and History for spiraling
spiral
1550s, from Middle French spiral, from Medieval Latin spiralis "winding, coiling" (mid-13c.), from Latin spira "coil," from Greek speira "coil, twist, wreath," from PIE *sper- "to turn, twist." Spiral galaxy first attested 1913.
spiral
1726 (implied in spiraled), from spiral (n.). Transferred and figurative sense by 1922. Related: Spiraling.
spiral
1650s, from spiral (adj.). U.S. football sense is from 1896.
spiral
(spī′rəl)- Coiling or developing around an axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical.
- A structure in the shape of a coil.
- To take the form or course of a spiral.