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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.

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death spiral

As every expert knows, voluntary health programs are killed by an adverse-selection death spiral.

From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026

For decades, Canada was seen as a global laggard in defence funding, and just two years ago, recruitment was so dire that a former defence minister warned the armed forces were in a "death spiral".

From BBC ● May 9, 2026

Michael Burry, the entrepreneur who gained fame for spotting the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, fanned fears on Monday as he flagged a possible "death spiral" for bitcoin.

From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 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

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