dwindle
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Synonym Usage
See decrease.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has dwindledperfect 3rd person singular
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have dwindledperfect
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am dwindlingprogressive 1st person singular
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is dwindlingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been dwindlingperfect progressive
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has been dwindlingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are dwindlingprogressive
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dwindlessingular 3rd person
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dwindlingparticiple
Past
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had dwindledperfect
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was dwindlingprogressive singular
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were dwindlingprogressive plural
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had been dwindlingperfect progressive
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dwindledsimple
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dwindledparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of dwindle
1590–1600; dwine (now dial.) to waste away ( Middle English; Old English dwīnan; cognate with Middle Dutch dwīnen to languish, Old Norse dvīna to pine away) + -le
Explanation
What do love, money, and the earth all have in common? All can dwindle, or shrink away, if we don't handle them properly. The word dwindle has a wonderfully descriptive, almost childlike sound to it, as though it belongs in a nursery rhyme. That might help you remember the meaning, which is to shrink away gradually, like the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland," who dwindles away until nothing is left but his grin.
Vocabulary lists containing dwindle
List 2
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Later that night, however, a Dwindle spokesman phoned Klasek to say the company was withdrawing the T-shirts, she said.
From The Guardian • May 9, 2013
Dwindle, which distributes Enjoi products, and its Australian parent company, Globe, did not respond to Guardian requests for comment on Wednesday.
From The Guardian • May 9, 2013
A version of this article appeared September 28, 2012, on page B1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Fee Deflation: ETF Costs Dwindle, but Don't Disappear.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 29, 2012
The brands we�re exclusive with�like Zero, Mystery, all the Dwindle brands, and others�are always going to have an advantage.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dwindle, dwin′dl, v.i. to grow less: to waste away: to grow feeble: to become degenerate.—v.t. to lessen.—n. decline.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
