on a downward spiral("These expulsions and closure of the consulate reinforce the reality of a relationship that continues on a downward spiral," Angela Stent, a former intelligence officer who focused on Russia in the George W. Bush administration, said to my colleagues. VLZ_58)
lineal descendant(coming in a direct line from an earlier or later generation of the same family as sb Х a lineal descendant of the company's founder. OALD Alexander Demidov)