freefall

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ˈfree ˈfall, n. [uncountable]

1. Aeronautics the fall of a body such that the only force acting upon it is gravity.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

free′ fall′, 

1. Aeronautics the hypothetical fall of a body such that the only force acting upon it is that of gravity.
2. Sport the part of a parachute jump that precedes the opening of the parachute.
3. Aeronautics a decline, esp. a sudden or rapid decline, as in value or prestige, that appears to be endless or bottomless:
   The economy was in a free fall all winter.
Also, free-fall (for defs. 1, 2).
• 1915–20

free-fall  (frē′fôl′), v., -fell, -fall•en, -fall•ing, adj., n. 
v.i. 

1. Aeronautics, Sport (of parachutists) to descend initially, as for a designated interval, in a free fall:
   The jumpers were required to free-fall for eight seconds.

adj. 

2. Aeronautics denoting or suggesting a free fall:
   a free-fall recession.

n. 

3. free fall (defs. 1, 2).

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

free fall noun

1. free descent of a body in which the gravitational force is the only force acting on it
2. the part of a parachute descent before the parachute opens