Nosedived: meaning, definitions and examples

Etymology

• Derived from the combination of 'nose', meaning the front part of something, and 'dive', which means to plunge or drop quickly.
• In aviation, the term began to be used in the mid-20th century to describe planes that rapidly descend.

Pop Culture

• In movies, when characters face dramatic failure or a sudden drop in status, they often say they've 'nosedived' into trouble.
• Sports commentary sometimes describes a player's performance as 'nosediving' when they lose form or score abruptly drops.

Business

• Stock markets often see companies' shares 'nosediving' in response to negative news or economic downturns.
• Nosediving can describe sales figures when a product becomes unpopular or faces competition.

Science

• In physics, a nosedive can relate to the concept of free fall, where gravity causes an object to drop at an accelerating rate.
• Aeronautics studies how a plane's angle of descent can lead to a controlled nosedive without losing altitude control.

Psychology

• The term can metaphorically apply to mental health, where individuals feel like their mood or mental state has 'nosedived,' often indicating a significant drop in well-being.
• In social contexts, someone might feel they are in a nosedive socially when relationships or popularity decline sharply.