Search results
- Dictionarydwindle/ˈdwɪndl/
verb
- 1. diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength: "traffic has dwindled to a trickle" Similar Opposite
Powered by Oxford Dictionaries
The meaning of DWINDLE is to become steadily less : shrink. How to use dwindle in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Dwindle.
DWINDLE definition: 1. to become smaller in size or amount, or fewer in number: 2. to become smaller in size or…. Learn more.
DWINDLE meaning: 1. to become smaller in size or amount, or fewer in number: 2. to become smaller in size or…. Learn more.
If something dwindles, it becomes smaller, weaker, or less in number. The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred. [VERB] Exports are dwindling and the trade deficit is swelling. [VERB] He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. [VERB -ing] Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.
Definition of dwindle verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. to become gradually less or smaller. dwindle (away) (to something) Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. dwindle (from something) (to something) Membership of the club has dwindled from 70 to 20.
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.
The earliest known use of the noun dwindle is in the late 1700s. OED's earliest evidence for dwindle is from 1779, in the writing of Samuel Johnson, author and lexicographer. It is also recorded as a verb from the late 1500s.
