bottom out

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

bottom out (third-person singular simple present bottoms out, present participle bottoming out, simple past and past participle bottomed out)

1. (intransitive) To reach the bottom; to reach the nadir or lowest point.
2. (idiomatic, of a vehicle) To touch or drag along the ground or other surface.

   Going over that speed bump, my car bottomed out.

3. (idiomatic) Of a vessel, to touch the bottom of a water body.
4. (mechanical engineering, of a suspension or similar device) To strike the lower mechanical stop and lose the ability to buffer further downward motion.

   The hard landing caused the oleos to bottom out and the gear struts collapsed.