: 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
Anthony Reardon, Kansas City Star, 20 Sep. 2025
Past Northeast Pacific Ocean blobs led to a historic die-off of seabirds in coastal Alaska, and affected fish species along with sea lions and other creatures that call this region home.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2025
Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Sep. 2025
Male mosquitoes feed on nectar, mate and die off quickly, one expert told USA TODAY, but female mosquitoes — the ones that bite — can live upwards of four weeks when temperatures are ideal.
—Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for die-off
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Noun
Luckily, this practice can still be done in the window that succeeds late fall die-off and precedes a heavy freeze.
—Anthony Reardon, Kansas City Star, 20 Sep. 2025
Past Northeast Pacific Ocean blobs led to a historic die-off of seabirds in coastal Alaska, and affected fish species along with sea lions and other creatures that call this region home.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2025
Verb
Malcolm-Jamal died off the coast of Costa Rica on July 20.
—Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Sep. 2025
Male mosquitoes feed on nectar, mate and die off quickly, one expert told USA TODAY, but female mosquitoes — the ones that bite — can live upwards of four weeks when temperatures are ideal.
—Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 15 Sep. 2025
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 2 Oct. 2025.
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