dwindle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
dwindles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dwindled,
past participle, past
-
dwindling
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
dwindles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dwindled,
past participle, past
-
dwindling
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See decrease.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dwindlesimple
-
dwindlessimple
-
have dwindledperfect
-
has dwindledperfect
-
am dwindlingprogressive
-
are dwindlingprogressive
-
is dwindlingprogressive
-
have been dwindlingperfect progressive
-
has been dwindlingperfect progressive
Past
-
dwindledsimple
-
had dwindledperfect
-
was dwindlingprogressive
-
were dwindlingprogressive
-
had been dwindlingperfect progressive
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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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:
But go back earlier, and the talk starts to dwindle.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
Instead of watching the pile dwindle each month, they could focus on the guaranteed amount deposited into their bank account each month.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
But this year the Rockies had the least snow on record, and they’ve watched springs dry up and creeks dwindle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Ranchers, meanwhile, are seeing their hay supplies dwindle.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
Someone stands, moves to the wall, the light in the room fades to twilight, our voices dwindle to a chorus of creaks, of husky whispers, like grasshoppers in a field at night.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
That arrangement will continue until about three years after the number of co-founders remaining with the company dwindles to fewer than three.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
In western Ukrainian cities, by contrast, rents are rising as the number of free apartments dwindles, Lun’s data shows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
But chances of finding anyone alive beneath deep rubble dwindles rapidly after a critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped people.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
But a lack of seeds and other food for mice might mean that prey dwindles over time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
The tunnel I’m in dwindles to two feet, and I turn back.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
The population of Kherson has dwindled from over 250,000 to about 65,000 since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which will enter its sixth year in February.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
While Chili’s same-restaurant sales rose 10.1%, Brinker’s other chain, Maggiano’s, saw sales decline as customer traffic dwindled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The conglomerate era, it should be recalled, dwindled away in the 1980s, when investors recognized that in most cases the parts were more valuable than the whole.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
But after months and an unusually hot summer, their numbers dwindled - with no sign that the government was meeting their demands.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
It presented a face of definite elegance to the street, although behind that wings and ells dwindled quickly in formality until the house ended in a big plain barn.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
But drought, plague and dwindling numbers of prairie dogs, ferrets’ main food source, have battered the population on this prairie, dropping counts from 250 three years ago to roughly 50 this season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
U.S. stocks saw a strong reversal in fortunes in October, as worries about dwindling free cash flows and rising borrowing costs threw a wrench into the artificial-intelligence trade.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026
The challenge comes as Afghanistan faces the return of 6.6 million Afghans since 2023, climate disasters, dwindling aid and banking isolation since the Taliban movement returned to power in 2021.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Katz and his partners’ idea was to fill a hole in the dwindling independent film market, with a focus on social-media marketing that would cost less than traditional television ads and reach a younger audience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
One by one he heard the Gladers’ dwindling shouts and hoots up ahead.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
