peter out
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
1846 US miners’ slang, from 1812 peter (“to become exhausted”).[1] Various speculative etymologies have been suggested, either from St. Peter (from sense of “rock”), French péter (“to fart”), or saltpeter (ingredient in gunpowder, hence used in mining).[2][3][4][5]
Verb [edit]
peter out (third-person singular simple present peters out, present participle petering out, simple past and past participle petered out)
- (idiomatic) To dwindle; to tail off; to diminish to nothing.
- What started as a great effort ended up petering out to nothing.
References [edit]
- ^ “peter out” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
- ^ “peter out”, The Phrase Finder, Gary Martin.
- ^ ami: origin of “peter out”
- ^ Take Our Word For It #117
- ^ A Hog On Ice & Other Curious Expressions, Charles Funk, 1948.
