to be in a tailspin

  • 1Tailspin Tommy — debuted in 1928, is a comic strip about a fictional pilot named Tailspin Tommy Tompkins, drawn by Hal Forrest.In the wake of Charles Lindbergh s crossing the Atlantic Ocean a great interest in aviation was created. Tailspin Tommy was the first a …

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  • 2tailspin — (n.) downward spiraling dive of an aircraft, 1916, from TAIL (Cf. tail) (n.1) + SPIN (Cf. spin) (n.). Figurative sense of state of loss of control is from 1928 …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 3tailspin — ► NOUN ▪ a spin by an aircraft …

    English terms dictionary

  • 4tailspin — [tāl′spin΄] n. 1. SPIN (n. 5): also tail spin 2. a state of rapidly increasing depression or confusion …

    English World dictionary

  • 5Tailspin Tommy (serial) — Infobox Film name = Tailspin Tommy image size = caption = director = Lew Landers producer = writer = narrator = starring = music = cinematography = editing = distributor = Universal Pictures released = 1934 runtime = 12 chapters (248 min) country …

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  • 6Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery — Infobox Film name = Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery image size = caption = director = Ray Taylor producer = writer = narrator = starring = music = cinematography = editing = distributor = Universal Pictures released = 1935 runtime = 12… …

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  • 7Tailspin — The term Tailspin can refer to several things: * , a 1989 television movie that tells the story of Korean Air Flight 007, which was shot down by Soviet jet fighters in 1983. * TaleSpin, an animated character series that used characters from the… …

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  • 8tailspin — noun a) The rapid, uncontrollable descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral. The loss of the third engine threw the plane into a tailspin. b) A severe mental or emotional …

    Wiktionary

  • 9tailspin — n. to go into a tailspin * * * to go into a tailspin …

    Combinatory dictionary

  • 10tailspin — tail|spin [ˈteılˌspın] n [C usually singular] 1.) in/into a tailspin in or into a bad situation that keeps getting worse in a way that you cannot control ▪ Raising interest rates could send the economy into a tailspin . 2.) when a plane falls… …

    Dictionary of contemporary English