First recorded in 1935–40; noun use of verb phrase die off
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Earlier this year, scientists warned that bird flu had sparked the worst die-off on record for southern elephant seals when it spread among a population on Argentina's coast in 2023.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
But the whelk is a cold-water species, and a marine heatwave in 2022 triggered a mass die-off of these snails in the Thames Estuary.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2025
He’s talking about the failure to recognize the consequences of climate change manifesting in the surrounding wetlands’ die-off.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2025
The team also showed that decayed elephant carcasses were more spread out across the landscape than fresh carcasses, indicating that the die-off in 2020 was different from typical elephant mortality patterns.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 29, 2024
The die-off happened amazingly fast—the statistics, according to the study, suggest that it was instantaneous.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Species develop a new specialty, exploit that niche, grow rapidly, die off slowly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
If family farms die off and get “gobbled up” by giant corporations, consumer choices are reduced, Ross said.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
"Road salt is a major environmental problem," she told AFP, adding that "trees die off after prolonged exposure".
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
In February 2022, Cano and colleagues noticed that D. africanum had started to die off in large numbers off La Palma and Gomera, islands in the western part of the Canary archipelago.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2025
We let the conversation die off and pedaled our bikes back to the house in silence.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
