Definition of "dwindle"

dwindle

/ˈdwɪn.dəl/

verb
third-person singular simple present dwindles, present participle dwindling, simple past and past participle dwindled
1. (intransitive) To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity.
  Quotations
  [E]very thing that was improving gradually degenerates and dwindles away to nothing, […]
  1802, T. Paynell (translator), Erasmus, The Complaint of Peace
2. (intransitive, figuratively) To fall away in quality; degenerate, sink.
  Quotations
  VVearie Seu'nights, nine times nine, / Shall he dvvindle, peake, and pine: […]
  c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene iii], page 132, column 1
  Religious Societies, though begun with excellent Intention, and by Perſons of true Piety, have dwindled into factious Clubs; […]
  1709, [Jonathan Swift], A Project for the Advancement of Religion, and the Reformation of Manners. […], London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke, […], page 44
  The flattery of his friends began to dwindle into simple approbation.
  1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], chapter III, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […]; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, 1885,
  The larger the empire, the more dwindles the mind of the citizen.
  1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress
  [I]nfected tulips are weakened by the viruses that cause the very patterns and swirls that fascinated horticulturists and investors in the first place. Such bulbs tend to dwindle away instead of fattening up and producing offsets.
  2014 September 26, Charles Quest-Ritson, “The Dutch garden where tulip bulbs live forever: Hortus Bulborum, a volunteer-run Dutch garden, is dedicated to conserving historic varieties before they vanish for good ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)‎
3. (transitive) To lessen; to bring low.
  Quotations
  Our drooping days are dwindled down to nought.
  1728, James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768
4. To break up or disperse.
  Quotations
  there were only five hundred foot and three hundred horse left with him, for the blocking of Plymouth; the rest were dwindled away
  1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707

Definition of "dwindle"

dwindle

verb

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Quotations

Quotations

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