verb
dwindle
DWIN-duhl
Dwindle (verb) means to become steadily smaller, fewer or weaker over time. Example: “Attendance dwindled from three hundred to barely forty.”
verb
1
To become steadily smaller, fewer or weaker over time.
"Attendance dwindled from three hundred to barely forty."
"Their savings dwindled over the long winter."
How to use dwindle
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishIt means to keep getting smaller until there is little left.
When to use it
Neutral and suitable for formal writing. It is intransitive, so a thing dwindles by itself; you cannot dwindle something.
Memory tip
Dwindle implies a gradual process, so it does not suit a sudden drop; use plummet or collapse for that.
Trace the full origin ↓
Easily confused with
Common pairings
dwindling supplies
dwindle away
dwindling numbers
dwindle to nothing
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Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
Attendance _____ from three hundred to barely forty.
Etymology
From Old English dwinan, to waste away or languish.
Related words
Rhymes for dwindle
See all rhymes for dwindle →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between dwindle and decrease?
Decrease is neutral and can be sudden, deliberate or measured. Dwindle suggests a slow, unwilled fading away towards very little or nothing, and it is not used for a decrease someone caused on purpose.
Can you dwindle something?
No, dwindle is intransitive: numbers, funds and hopes dwindle on their own. To describe someone causing the reduction, use reduce, cut or deplete.
What does dwindle away mean?
It is an emphatic form stressing that something shrinks until almost nothing remains, as in savings dwindling away over the years. The away adds the sense of complete disappearance.
What is the meaning of dwindle?
"dwindle" (verb) means to become steadily smaller, fewer or weaker over time.
