dwindle
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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:
Oil revenues are likely to dwindle, businesses will again delay investment and households will cut spending even further.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
While check usage has continued to dwindle, experts say they still have a foothold in the modern economy.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
As diplomatic momentum appeared to dwindle, fresh drone attacks in the Gulf on Sunday rattled the ceasefire.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
Now he’s watched the Lakers’ seemingly insurmountable three-games-to-none series lead dwindle to 3-2 after a 99-93 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
Hound had turned, clenching him in its metal-plier jaws, and trotted off in darkness, while the camera remained stationary, watching the creature dwindle in the distance—a splendid fade-out!
From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
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
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
“We know that February on, our export pace for soybeans dwindles to zero,” Roose said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
Framed in the frosted glass panel, the squat outline waits, dwindles, and then disappears.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
Not because their love for the sport dwindled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
By the two-year anniversary of the bombing, the full-time task force of 120 investigators—who had interviewed nearly 5,000 individuals and pursued leads in 38 states and three countries—had dwindled to several detectives.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Although the Fourth of July “has not quite dwindled away,” he wrote, now it is good for nothing more than “burning fire-crackers!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
The chances of finding anyone alive beneath meters deep of rubble have dwindled since the critical 72-hour window passed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
A few nights later, they did it again, almost as if for sport, and now the egg money dwindled away.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Putting off the paperwork might be her way of keeping at bay the reality that her time with her partner is dwindling.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
International hotel chains have surrendered their operations, and the dwindling tourism industry has denied the insolvent government an essential revenue source.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
As well as their overheating bodies, the other issue for bumblebees is dwindling supplies of food.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
But thanks in large part to the dwindling number of theaters projecting analog film since 2013, finding capable, actively working projectionists for releases like “The Odyssey” can be a struggle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Mark sits on a seat at the tail end of the vessel and twists backward to look up at the towering skyscraper, where the dwindling glow of the day’s sunshine reflects an amber sheen.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
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.
