Jump to content

freefall

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: free-fall and free fall

English

[edit]

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From free +‎ fall.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

freefall (countable and uncountable, plural freefalls)

  1. (physics) A state of motion affected by no acceleration or force other than that of gravity.
    • 1977, United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on Armed Services, Fiscal Year 1978 Authorization for Military Procurement, Research, and Development, and Active Duty, Selected Reserve, and Civilian Personnel Strengths, Hearings Before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, First Session, on S. 1210, page 6083:
      SAC has a bomber study currently in progress to see how many freefalls, how many SRAM, how many ALCM's they need to fill out the force.
  2. (physics) A state of motion but allowing for the presence of incidental air resistance not caused intentionally by devices such parachutes or wings.
    • 2017, Randy Lippincott, Out of the Blue, My History of Freefall, Ethanol, and Skyfall:
      I only had four months left on the team and wanted to log as many freefalls as possible, and I was closing in on my 750th jump.
  3. (figuratively, by extension) A rapid, uncontrolled decline or worsening.
    As civil war continues in Iraq, the U.S. president's approval ratings are in freefall.
    • 1989, Sagetrieb‎[1], volume 8, page 177:
      That "spiritual imagination" is manifest in the "Mass," which checks the freefalls into dread with praise for the mystery, flux and plenitude of creation.
    • 1993, Eleanor Ray, Barbara Marinacci, Vineyards in the Sky, The Life of Legendary Vintner Martin Ray, page 149:
      compared with the freefalls that followed, one day after another through the next weeks, as brief respites gave way to new selling panics.
    • 2010, Mick Herron, Slow Horses, page 63:
      House prices were in freefall, if you owned one.
    • 2020 March 25, Rail, front cover:
      Passenger numbers in freefall as UK battles COVID-19
    • 2021 February 6, Rachel Monroe, “Ultra-fast Fashion Is Eating the World”, in The Atlantic‎[2]:
      Even with the economy in free fall, demand for cheap, cute clothes persisted.

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

freefall (third-person singular simple present freefalls, present participle freefalling, simple past freefell, past participle freefallen)

  1. (intransitive) To drop in a state of freefall.
    A base jumper attempts to freefall for as long as possible before triggering the parachute.
    • 1987 April 11, Pamela Wescott, “Judy Grahn: Pursuing the Work We Want”, in Gay Community News, page 8:
      Watching a mother raccoon urge her babies, one by one, to let go of their grip of the roof and free-fall into her outstretched arms, three feet below on the porch rail.
  2. (figuratively, by extension, intransitive) To decline or worsen rapidly and uncontrollably.

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=freefall&oldid=90381441"