doldrums

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In the past, yanking the world economy out of the doldrums has been the job of American consumers, who have accounted for about two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product and who for years bought enough imports to keep factories running from southern China to northern Mexico to central Europe.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. plural noun A period of stagnation or slump.
  2. plural noun A period of depression or unhappy listlessness.
  3. plural noun A region of the ocean near the equator, characterized by calms, light winds, or squalls.
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Examples (48)

  • Tips to Help You Save in 2009 With the economy heading for the doldrums, here are
  • As long as the building industry remains in the doldrums, the short term fix may be the mortgage market. —  WebWire | Recent Headlines
  • In the past, yanking the world economy out of the doldrums has been the job of American consumers, who have accounted for about two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product and who for years bought enough imports to keep factories running from southern China to northern Mexico to central Europe. —  China Digital Times (CDT)
  • On and on, unhasting but unresting, we stolidly jogged, by great good fortune slipping across the "doldrums"--that hateful belt of calms about the line so much detested by all sailor-men--without losing the south-east wind Not one day of calm delayed us, the north-east trades meeting us like a friend sent to extend a welcoming hand and lend us his assistance on our homeward way. —  The Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales
  • "What fettle's he in--doldrums, I reckon Tak na note on him. —  The Shadow of a Crime A Cumbrian Romance
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From obsolete doldrum, dullard, alteration (influenced by tantrum) of Middle English dold, past participle of dullen, to dull, from dul, dull; see dull.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Also in singular doldrum; perhaps connected with dold, stupid: see dolt.
 

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/ˈdɑldrəmz/
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