dwindle

verb

dwin·​dle ˈdwin-dᵊl How to pronounce dwindle (audio)
dwindled; dwindling ˈdwin-(d)liŋ How to pronounce dwindle (audio)
-dᵊl-iŋ

intransitive verb

: to become steadily less : shrink
Their savings dwindled to nothing.
a dwindling population

transitive verb

: to make steadily less
Choose the Right Synonym for dwindle

decrease, lessen, diminish, reduce, abate, dwindle mean to grow or make less.

decrease suggests a progressive decline in size, amount, numbers, or intensity.

slowly decreased the amount of pressure

lessen suggests a decline in amount rather than in number.

has been unable to lessen her debt

diminish emphasizes a perceptible loss and implies its subtraction from a total.

his visual acuity has diminished

reduce implies a bringing down or lowering.

you must reduce your caloric intake

abate implies a reducing of something excessive or oppressive in force or amount.

the storm abated

dwindle implies progressive lessening and is applied to things growing visibly smaller.

their provisions dwindled slowly

Examples of dwindle in a Sentence

Our energy dwindled as the meeting dragged on. The town's population is dwindling away.
Recent Examples on the Web Each councilor has $1 million for neighborhood projects One potential avenue to fund the preservation of Indy’s dwindling forests is a $1 million quality-of-life investment each of the 25 city-county councilors can make in partnership with the Department for Public Works and Indy Parks. Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Sep. 2024 Fostering Innovation While Optimizing Costs Traditionally, rising costs of development and dwindling returns have hindered potential innovation breakthroughs. Andrew Duncan, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024 As passengers have increased in size, seat pitches — roughly, the distance between seats from front to back — have dwindled, leading to mid-air disputes over the smallest of airplane real estate, from middle seat armrests to the area under passengers’ seats. Monica Pitrelli,serenitie Wang, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2024 With stock of its current generation e-readers dwindling, Amazon is expected to announce new Kindles soon, perhaps as early as next week. Andrew Liszewski, The Verge, 25 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for dwindle 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dwindle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

probably frequentative of dwine to waste away, from Middle English, from Old English dwīnan; akin to Old Norse dvīna to pine away, deyja to die — more at die

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of dwindle was in 1596

Dictionary Entries Near dwindle

Cite this Entry

“Dwindle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dwindle. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

dwindle

verb
dwin·​dle ˈdwin-dᵊl How to pronounce dwindle (audio)
dwindled; dwindling ˈdwin-dliŋ How to pronounce dwindle (audio)
-dᵊliŋ
: to make or become less

More from Merriam-Webster on dwindle

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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