: 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
Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 29 Oct. 2025
What To Know The February 18 collapse of a earthen dam at a Sino-Metals mine released roughly 50 million liters of acidic waste into a tributary of Zambia’s Kafue River, causing a massive fish die-off as far as 70 miles downstream and forcing the nearby city of Kitwe to shut down its water supply.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 23 Nov. 2025
North Carolina's tricolored bats are unstable, among several species of bats quickly dying off in the dark.
—Dave Malkoff, CBS News, 16 Nov. 2025
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Noun
That report, authored by 160 scientists from 87 institutions in 23 countries, warns that warm-water coral reefs that support nearly a billion people and a quarter of all marine life are crossing their tipping point, as evidenced by mass die-offs already under way.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 29 Oct. 2025
What To Know The February 18 collapse of a earthen dam at a Sino-Metals mine released roughly 50 million liters of acidic waste into a tributary of Zambia’s Kafue River, causing a massive fish die-off as far as 70 miles downstream and forcing the nearby city of Kitwe to shut down its water supply.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
An insurance company could sell life or health care policies, pay executives lavish salaries, and go bust when policyholders start to die off or get sick.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 23 Nov. 2025
North Carolina's tricolored bats are unstable, among several species of bats quickly dying off in the dark.
—Dave Malkoff, CBS News, 16 Nov. 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 1 Dec. 2025.
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