freefall

• free fall (noun only)
• free-fall (verb, noun as a modifier)

From free +‎ fall.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiːˌfɔːl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

freefall (uncountable)

1. (physics) A state of motion affected by no acceleration or force other than that of gravity.
2. (common usage) As above, but allowing for the presence of incidental air resistance not caused intentionally by devices like parachutes or wings.
3. (by extension) The state of worsening out of control.

   As civil war continues in Iraq, the U.S. president's approval ratings are in freefall.

   • 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^[1]:

     Even with the economy in free fall, demand for cheap, cute clothes persisted.

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.