dwindle

[dwin-dl]

See more synonyms for dwindle on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), dwin·dled, dwin·dling.

to become smaller and smaller; shrink; waste away: His vast fortune has dwindled away.
to fall away, as in quality; degenerate.

verb (used with object), dwin·dled, dwin·dling.

to make smaller and smaller; cause to shrink: Failing health dwindles ambition.

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

Related formsun·dwin·dling, adjective

Synonyms for dwindle

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1. diminish, decline, lessen, wane. 3. lessen.

Synonym study

1. See decrease.

Antonyms for dwindle

1. increase. 3. magnify.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for dwindling

decline, abate, ebb, wane, lessen, drop, subside, wither, decrease, sink, fade, fall, decay, diminish, shrivel, shrink, weaken, bate, drain, taper

Examples from the Web for dwindling

Contemporary Examples of dwindling

After two decades of dwindling influence, NATO is refreshed and energized by the growing threat on its eastern flank.
Did Vladimir Putin Just Save NATO?
Nico Hines
September 4, 2014
In Wild Ones, you talk about the dwindling numbers of several species.
Mississippi Hippos, Teddy Bears, and Other Strange Beasts
Scott Porch
July 25, 2014
They can exacerbate splits within a ruling leadership, foment popular unrest, or expedite a dwindling current account.
Why Aren’t Sanctions Stopping Putin?
Meghan L. O’Sullivan
May 13, 2014
Think thirtysomething single women are the only ones stressed about their dwindling options for marriage and kids?
High Manxiety: Thirtysomething Men Are The New Neurotic Singles
Hannah Seligson
May 4, 2014
The yakuza are dwindling from public view: it will be a long time before they are really gone---if ever.
Where Have Japan’s Yakuza Gone?
Jake Adelstein, Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky
March 9, 2014

Historical Examples of dwindling

Cave-walls and roof all shrinking, dwindling, drawing down upon him.
The World Beyond
Raymond King Cummings
Great distances here, in relation to the giant globe, were dwindling!
The World Beyond
Raymond King Cummings
My poor father's health and his income were dwindling together.
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro
Even the thunder had rolled away, dwindling to a deep mutter.
Romance
Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer
Below him was a shrinking, dwindling landscape, wind-swept and desolate.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June, 1930
Various

British Dictionary definitions for dwindling

dwindle

verb

to grow or cause to grow less in size, intensity, or number; diminish or shrink gradually

Word Origin for dwindle

C16: from Old English dwīnan to waste away; related to Old Norse dvīna to pine away

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dwindling

dwindle

1590s, apparently diminutive and frequentative of Middle English dwinen "waste away, fade, vanish," from Old English dwinan, from Proto-Germanic *dwinanan (cf. Dutch dwijnen "to vanish," Old Norse dvina, Danish tvine, Low German dwinen), from PIE *dheu- (3) "to die" (see die (v.)). Related: Dwindled; dwindling.