: 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
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JSTOR Daily, 17 Oct. 2025
The report noted that the bay’s famous seagrass beds were undergoing a massive die-off, accompanied by algal blooms that depleted oxygen levels, thereby killing fish in large numbers.
—Jerome Lorenz, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2025
Big Think, 17 Oct. 2025
Former Tropical Storm Jerry died off Saturday afternoon.
—Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for die-off
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Noun
In 1983, Lessios witnessed a mass die-off in sea urchins in the Caribbean that wreaked havoc on the local ecosystem.
—JSTOR Daily, 17 Oct. 2025
The report noted that the bay’s famous seagrass beds were undergoing a massive die-off, accompanied by algal blooms that depleted oxygen levels, thereby killing fish in large numbers.
—Jerome Lorenz, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
Fish started dying off, birds stopped coming, and tourists abandoned the area.
—Big Think, 17 Oct. 2025
Former Tropical Storm Jerry died off Saturday afternoon.
—Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 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 24 Oct. 2025.
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