: 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
Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 20 May 2025
Read: The last thing bees need right now After a major winter die-off, the USDA usually returns its verdict by late March or early April, Downey said.
—Joanna Thompson, The Atlantic, 20 May 2025
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 May 2025
This year’s bee die off accounts for over hundreds of millions honey bees and may have far-reaching impacts for consumers looking to purchase honey.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for die-off
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Noun
The authors also pointed to the deaths of billions of intertidal invertebrates during the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome, as well as a catastrophic die-off of corals along 29 percent of the Great Barrier Reef, in the aftermath of a 2016 marine heat wave.
—Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 20 May 2025
Read: The last thing bees need right now After a major winter die-off, the USDA usually returns its verdict by late March or early April, Downey said.
—Joanna Thompson, The Atlantic, 20 May 2025
Verb
The number of grouse visiting the lek at the Jackson Hole Airport has also declined, but officials aren’t sure whether that’s because the birds are dying off or opting to relocate.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 May 2025
This year’s bee die off accounts for over hundreds of millions honey bees and may have far-reaching impacts for consumers looking to purchase honey.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 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 30 May. 2025.
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