tailspin
Americannoun
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spin.
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a sudden and helpless collapse into failure, confusion, or the like.
verb (used without object)
noun
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aeronautics another name for spin
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informal a state of confusion or panic
Etymology
Origin of tailspin
Explanation
When a plane goes into a tailspin, it rotates as it dives toward the ground. While pilots sometimes go into a deliberate tailspin, an unexpected tailspin would be terrifying. Because of the dramatic nature of an aircraft's tailspin, the word is also used figuratively to mean "a chaotic or panicked situation or state." Getting terrible news sends some people into a tailspin, while others are able to somehow stay calm. The word dates from about 1915, and the figurative meaning first appeared in print in the 1930s.
Vocabulary lists containing tailspin
Roll with It
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The Island of Forgotten Gods
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The Celestial Seas
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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.
See Examples For:
If your boss is overwhelmed already, any questions, no matter how fair, might send her into a tailspin.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
The move sent the stock into a tailspin and prompted shareholder lawsuits against Bisignano, Fiserv and his successor CEO, Mike Lyons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Many families also said that they had been thrown into a tailspin, trying to arrange for weeks of childcare to cover the early finish.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
Its after-effects have derailed her life, and an unexpected email invitation to attend a retirement party in France honoring her former lover sends her into a tailspin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
While the German economy was in a tailspin toward disaster, the Roaring Twenties were in full swing in America.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
Others simply met the moment of need, fundraising for charity and keeping spirits up while artists and fans alike tailspinned.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2020
Rated a red-hot pennant contender in spring training, once the season got under way the Giants tailspinned into an eleven-game losing streak.
From Time Magazine Archive
A devastating winter storm that blasted the country just before Christmas sent holiday plans tailspinning into chaos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2022
The economy is tailspinning, millions of citizens have been told to shelter in place, and your best defense is a bar of soap.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2020
Then again, that was against Toronto, the same tailspinning team on which the struggling Gaborik fattened his scoring totals last week with a four-goal game.
From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2011
Yet not even the acclaim of history's most extensive cutback in nuclear missiles could compensate for an economy tailspinning into chaos.
From Time Magazine Archive
Seven were German planes, nine U. S. The shooting, tailspinning and climbing lasted two hours.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
