: a sudden sharp decline of a population of animals or plants that is not caused directly by human activity
died off; dying off; dies off
: to die sequentially either singly or in numbers so that the total number is greatly diminished
Examples of die-off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026
Seals, sea lions, baleen whales and seabirds all experienced die-offs, likely because of a lack of food and an increase in toxins from algal blooms, Leising said.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 11 June 2026
Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026
Many have died off, however, leaving three of us who are very close.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 7 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for die-off
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
There were also die-offs of seals, sea lions and marine birds, Leising said, probably from a combination of a lack of food and harmful algal blooms, and less food out there for baleen whales.
—Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026
Seals, sea lions, baleen whales and seabirds all experienced die-offs, likely because of a lack of food and an increase in toxins from algal blooms, Leising said.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 11 June 2026
Verb
One of these clues is that Adriana La Cerva, whom Chase said was one of his beloved characters, died off-screen.
—Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026
Many have died off, however, leaving three of us who are very close.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 7 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for die-off
Cite this Entry
“Die-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/die-off. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
