peter out

Idioms  

1. Dwindle or diminish and come to an end, as in Their enthusiasm soon petered out. The origin of this usage is unknown, but one authority suggests it may refer to the apostle Peter, whose enthusiastic support of Jesus quickly diminished so that he denied knowing him three times during the night after Jesus's arrest. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

The Feeding of the 5,001: If Jesus had known how greedy that last guy was going to be, he’d have sent Peter out for another fish.

From Washington Post

Yaw Ngoha was 19 and had a basic school diploma when he followed his older brother Peter out of one of Ghana’s poorest regions to Bawdie.

From Reuters

They cried, they snogged, they traded “I love yous,” and then they never saw each other again — until last night, when the show trotted Peter out onstage to submit to its ritualistic relationship post-mortem.

From New York Times

Given the chance to sell Peter out to a fellow small-time villain, he chooses not to.

From The Verge

"It will leave Peter out of pocket."

From BBC

Related Words

• abate
• die out
• ebb
• evaporate
• fade
• recede
• tail away
• tail off
• wane