"The precipitous downward slide of previous decades has been arrested," he said, "and we have begun the long climb back to reasonable standards."

Vacancy rates were down and rents slowed their precipitous slide.

He felt that his precipitous slide into the black hole had never happened.

Clawing at the sloped surface, he was finally able to stop his precipitous slide.

He managed to brace one foot, but their precipitous slide continued.

It was such jawboning in February that began the dollar's precipitous slide against the yen.

While the Sept. 11 events exacerbated the problems, the city's precipitous fiscal slide predated the attacks.

More recently in Zimbabwe, a suspect election has contributed to a precipitous economic slide and laid the ground for political strife.

Late in 2007, the rand rallied modestly to just over 8p, only to experience a precipitous slide during the first quarter of 2008.

It was a bad sign, warning of a precipitous downhill slide in the tone of the debate.