Plural of flameout; multiple instances of sudden flame loss in engines or sudden collapses in other contexts.
Directly from the plural of 'flameout.' As the singular term became more widely used metaphorically beyond aviation, its plural form followed, describing various types of sudden failures in different fields.
During the space race, engineers became obsessed with preventing flameouts in rocket engines at high altitudes where the air is so thin that maintaining combustion becomes nearly impossible.
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