: 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
Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 30 June 2025
That's important because honey bees play a critical role in agriculture and the environment and have been subject to large die-offs in the past two decades.
—Elizabeth Weise, USA Today, 23 June 2025
Joanna Thompson, The Atlantic, 20 May 2025
Jonathan Gitlin Remind me again why the wagon died off?
—ArsTechnica, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for die-off
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Noun
The last major die-off in the Florida Bay was after a drought period resulting in high salinity in 2015.
—Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 30 June 2025
That's important because honey bees play a critical role in agriculture and the environment and have been subject to large die-offs in the past two decades.
—Elizabeth Weise, USA Today, 23 June 2025
Verb
Since official recordkeeping started in 2007, approximately 40 percent of honeybee colonies kept by both commercial and hobbyist beekeepers have died off each winter.
—Joanna Thompson, The Atlantic, 20 May 2025
Jonathan Gitlin Remind me again why the wagon died off?
—ArsTechnica, 16 May 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 5 Jul. 2025.
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