spiral

The word “spiral” means a curve that winds around a center point while moving steadily outward or inward. In plain terms, a winding, coiled shape, or a situation that keeps escalating.

“Spiral” is pronounced SPEYE-ruhl (/ˈspaɪɹəl/ in IPA).

Here is “spiral” used in a sentence: “The staircase wound upward in a tight spiral.”

Depending on how it is used, “spiral” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “spiral” comes from Latin. From Latin spīra, itself from Greek speîra, meaning "coil" or "twist.".

“Spiral” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Spiral” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a curve that winds around a center point while moving steadily outward or inward.

A spiral is a curve that winds around a center point while moving steadily outward or inward, typically flat or two-dimensional in its basic sense, while a helix winds around an axis while also extending in three dimensions, like a spring or a screw thread. In casual usage the two words are sometimes used loosely for each other, but technically they describe different shapes.

A downward spiral describes a process that keeps building on itself in a negative direction, making it increasingly hard to stop, such as a spiral of debt or declining mental health. It draws on the sense of spiral as a self-reinforcing process rather than the geometric curve.

Yes, spiral can be used as a verb meaning either to move in a spiral path physically, or figuratively to steadily worsen or increase, as in "costs began to spiral out of control."