: 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
Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2026
Bulté is now working with a wildlife statistician to assess whether the Opinicon population is stable, growing, or shrinking — and whether the male-female ratio has been permanently shifted by the 2022 die-off.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 30 Mar. 2026
Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026
Some of this is inevitable — the original cadre of settlers who remember fleeing to the island with the hope of retaking the mainland has all but died off.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for die-off
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Noun
Bulté is working with a wildlife statistician to assess whether the Opinicon population is stable, growing, or shrinking — and whether the male-female ratio has been permanently shifted by the 2022 die-off.
—Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2026
Bulté is now working with a wildlife statistician to assess whether the Opinicon population is stable, growing, or shrinking — and whether the male-female ratio has been permanently shifted by the 2022 die-off.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 30 Mar. 2026
Verb
This means after the plant flowers, the mother plant dies off.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026
Some of this is inevitable — the original cadre of settlers who remember fleeing to the island with the hope of retaking the mainland has all but died off.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 13 Mar. 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 2 Apr. 2026.
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