Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A very steep dive of an aircraft.
  • noun A sudden, swift drop or plunge.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To drop with the nose or front first, as of an airplane.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A headfirst fall or jump.
  • noun economics A rapid fall in price or value.
  • verb intransitive, of aircraft To dive down in a steep angle.
  • verb intransitive, economy To perform a rapid fall in price or value.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a steep nose-down descent by an aircraft
  • noun a sudden sharp drop or rapid decline
  • verb plunge nose first; drop with the nose or front first, of aircraft
  • noun a steep nose-down descent by an aircraft

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Ever since the "Flash Crash" in May of 2010 - when the market took an unprecedented short-term nosedive due to computer-driven trading - many investors had wondered if the growing popularity of exchange-traded funds was somehow driving the market through its manic periods.

    MarketWatch.com - Top Stories 2011

  • The nosedive could be a sign that it lacks the shelf life that made Baron Cohen's "Borat" a

    unknown title 2009

  • Possum, that is the first I have heard of the "nosedive" concept.

    Smoothing Out The Transition - NASA Watch 2008

  • A witness said that the woman in her 70s saw the car "nosedive" into the Avon from the opposite bank.

    Your Local Guardian | Wimbledon 2010

  • A witness said that the woman in her 70s saw the car "nosedive" into the Avon from the opposite bank.

    Your Local Guardian | Wimbledon 2010

  • A witness said that the woman in her 70s saw the car "nosedive" into the Avon from the opposite bank.

    Your Local Guardian | Sutton 2010

  • A witness said that the woman in her 70s saw the car "nosedive" into the Avon from the opposite bank.

    Your Local Guardian | Wimbledon 2010

  • History suggests such a connection could give way at any time - over almost any issue - and send Obama into the kind of nosedive from which other presidents never recovered.

    SFGate: Top News Stories By JULIE PACE 2010

  • A witness said that the woman in her 70s saw the car "nosedive" into the Avon from the opposite bank.

    Your Local Guardian | Wimbledon 2010

  • A witness said that the woman in her 70s saw the car "nosedive" into the Avon from the opposite bank.

    Your Local Guardian | Sutton 2010

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