tail off
phrasal verb
tailed off; tailing off; tails off
: to become smaller or quieter in a gradual way
Our productivity tailed off last year.
She started to ask a question and then her voice tailed off.
Examples of tail off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Results tailed off in the late 1970s.
—
Jack Lang, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025
Our guys played their tail off.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Oct. 2025
The production tailed off to 11-23-34 in 52 games last season.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 1 Oct. 2025
That football team just worked their tail off to get an SEC win.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 14 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tail off
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jack Lang, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025
Our guys played their tail off.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Oct. 2025
The production tailed off to 11-23-34 in 52 games last season.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 1 Oct. 2025
That football team just worked their tail off to get an SEC win.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 14 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tail off
Cite this Entry
“Tail off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tail%20off. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share