die-off
noun
a sudden, natural perishing of large numbers of a species, population, or community.
die-off
American
[dahy-awf, -of]
/ ˈdaɪˌɔf, -ˌɒf /
noun
die-off
Scientific
/ dī′ôf′ /
die off
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of die-off
First recorded in 1935–40; noun use of verb phrase die off
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.
See Examples For:
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
Mass coral die-off is underway and, unless global warming is reversed, large reef systems as we know them will disappear.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 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
Even a year after treatment, a spring die-off of songbirds occurred and much good nesting territory lay silent and unoccupied.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Species develop a new specialty, exploit that niche, grow rapidly, die off slowly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The condition develops when specialized brain cells that produce dopamine gradually die off.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 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
The rate at which trees die off in a forest can vary in response to different types of disturbances, or as forests grow thicker and there is greater competition for resources.
From Barron's ● Jan. 6, 2026
“All they can do, really, is lay unfertilized drone eggs. They’ll fill up the combs with them, and as the workers naturally die off, there are none to replace them.”
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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.
