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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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.
See Examples For:
The companies have said they would maintain a large presence in Oklahoma City, but some officials fear that will dwindle over time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
But go back earlier, and the talk starts to dwindle.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 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
I could sense the boy's interest dwindle as the pull of his mother increased.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
With hydropower accounting for 80 percent of production as of 2024, supply dwindles in the dry season from March to August.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
Colleges across America are reckoning with the demographic cliff as the pipeline of 18-year-olds dwindles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
As time dwindles, the Internal Revenue Service has received over 1 million fewer income-tax returns compared to the same point a year ago.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026
In public health terms, elimination means that a disease has become rare enough, and immunity to it widespread enough, that local transmission dwindles quickly if a case or two emerges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
Above me, I hear the old pipes shake into action with a thunk! and then the water running in my sink dwindles to a trickle.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
The number of defectors resettling in South Korea has dwindled from more than 1,000 in 2019, before the pandemic border controls, to 223 last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
As audiences turned to new forms of entertainment and public performance opportunities dwindled, many magicians found it harder to make a living from skills passed down through generations.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
With far less snowmelt than usual feeding the Colorado River, inflows dwindled, and the second-largest reservoir in the United States fell to record-low levels in late August and early September.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Except my little freezer stash of homemade breakfast burritos had also dwindled to nothing, and I knew exactly what Monday morning would look like without some intervention: Wake up.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
I looked over my shoulder to see the diviner holding up a hand in farewell as she, the Ridgefolk, and the mountain they lived inside dwindled in the distance.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Carmakers also are late to roll out 2027 model-year vehicles—a result of dwindling redesigns, an industrywide push toward later rollouts and, in some cases, inventory gluts caused by slow-selling vehicles, analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Some condominium HOAs have run into trouble recently, as MarketWatch has reported, in part due to skyrocketing insurance costs and dwindling financial reserves.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
The switch has been spurred by dwindling stocks of Atlantic mackerel after years of overfishing, with its Chilean counterpart more sustainable and a third of the cost.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Maybe it stems from AI money, or the dwindling crime rate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
With our small bag of rice dwindling, Kim is as good as Pa was at rationing our food.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
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.
