spiral down

spiral down

1. To travel down (something) in a twirling or spiraling motion. After the second engine went dead, the plane started spiraling down to the ground. I pulled the plug and watched the water spiral down the drain.
2. Of some measurement or value, to decrease very rapidly. The company's stock prices have spiraled down since the CEO's arrest, dropping nearly 18 points in two days. As the sun set the temperature began spiraling down, so I knew we needed to find shelter soon.
See also: down, spiral
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

spiral down

to descend in a spiral path. The ancient trail spiraled down the mountain peak. A path spiraled down and at the bottom was a small refreshment stand.
See also: down, spiral
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • come a gutser
  • bounce up and down
  • be down to (one)
  • be down to somebody/something
  • be down to something
  • be down to (do something)
  • come down in buckets
  • close down
  • close down and shut down
  • bucket down
References in periodicals archive
The idea is to spiral down over an airport to line up with a runway with just enough height and speed for a power-off landing.
Emergency descent in IMC: that stabilized descent stuff is fine, so long as you've got time and at least one working engine. Too bad catastrophic failures don't always wait for clear skies
Thus, a foundation existed for the performances of "Spiral Down," Follower 2" and "Brand New World."
Boston Pops, Junkies get synthesis right
We were beginning to spiral down that long dreadful path to the end of a marriage.
The map store: our map to independence. (A Place In The Work Force)
Otherwise, you could spiral down and damage your marriage beyond repair and end up losing both women, which would be a tragedy.
Dear Wendy: I don't know how much she cares
Skillfully, they chasse out, uniformly break into deep contractions, then spiral down to the floor.
Stubborn Dance in L.A
* Wind decorative ribbon in a spiral down the ivy tree as shown at right.
Decorate an ivy tree
That will mean lower corporate earnings, causing stocks to spiral down. Stocks will drop and companies will then need to lay-off workers to cut costs.
The time is right to refinance
These displays result when electrically charged particles trapped by a planet's magnetic field spiral down field "lines" and hit molecules in the atmosphere.
Locating Uranus' auroras: painstaking analyses reveal an outer glow
Witnesses spotted a flap blow off so there was no control of the plane, and it was seen to spiral down.
Memorial stone to be laid for brave airmen
While receiving vectors in an attempt to locate the VFR-only airport, the pilot stated, "actually the field is directly under me if I could, ah, spiral down." The controller then cleared the flight for a visual approach.
Beech B36TC Bonanza: June 14, 2006, North Garden, Va