Ask a Fool: Recessions, Corrections, and Crashes -- What's the Difference?

These three terms are often incorrectly used interchangeably, but in fact, they have different meanings.

A recession is an economic term that refers to a general slowdown in economic activity, generally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. While the effects of a recession often cause the stock market to fall, the term itself doesn't refer to a specific type of market activity.

A correction refers to a fall in the overall stock market, a specific index, or an individual stock, generally of at least 10%. Market corrections are common events, historically occurring about once per year, with the most recent example in early 2016. Market corrections are generally short-term dips, and are not to be confused with a bear market, which is a longer-term period of falling stock prices and general market pessimism.

Source: Fool.com