spiral

/ˈspaɪərəl/ noun [C]

Definition

› a situation in which prices, levels, rates, etc. go down, or in which a situation gets worse and is difficult to control because one bad event causes another: a spiral of sth The world's two biggest economies are caught in a spiral of borrowing. This year's downward spiral of house prices has depressed the market. My former colleagues have been stuck in a spiral that continues to say, the only way we can continue our profit margins is to cut good journalism, and that is to me a death spiral.

(Definition of spiral noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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