nose dive
Steep, swift descent
A nose dive is a steep, headfirst plunge—originally of an aircraft descending with its nose pointed sharply downward.
The term extends to any sudden, dramatic drop: The stock took a nose dive after the earnings report.
As a verb, to nose-dive is to plunge or decline sharply: Sales nose-dived in the fourth quarter.
- plungeSudden steep descent
- free fallUnimpeded gravitational descent
- fallDescend under gravity
- dropFall or release
- tailspinSteep spiral descent
steep decline · descent · tumble · crash · crash and burn · decline · steep · slump · cratering · plummet · spiral · going down · collapse · hit rock bottom · downturn · failure · crash landing · recession
- aviation disastersplane crash, air crash, midair collision, crash landing, crash site
- air showsairshow, air show, aerial displays, Thunderbirds, Red Arrows
- failingfail, fails, collapse, flop, bomb
- model aircraftmodel airplane, model kits, RC helicopter, quadcopter, model aircraft
- flightflying, fly, flight, aviation, aircraft
- aviationaircraft, airports, flying, flight, airplane
rate of change
nose divegradual decline
Slow downward trend
gentle slope · controlled descent · soft landing · taper off · wind down