taper off

English[edit]

From taper and off.

taper off (third-person singular simple present tapers off, present participle tapering off, simple past and past participle tapered off)

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see taper,‎ off.
The glass tapers off at the top.
To diminish or lessen gradually; to become or make smaller, slower, quieter, etc.
Coordinate terms: cycle off, cruise, discontinue

Months after they printed the article, the number of angry letters finally started to taper off.
- 1960 September, G. Freeman Allen, “I.C.I. fertiliser goes by rail from Tees-side”, in Trains Illustrated, page 534:
  The traffic tapers off towards mid-May, but it continues in some measure throughout the off-peak months.
- 2021 March 16, Adele Framer, “What I have learnt from helping thousands of people taper off antidepressants and other psychotropic medications”, in Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology‎^[1], volume 11, →DOI:
  To fill this gap, over the last 25 years, patients have developed a robust Internet-based subculture of volunteer peer support for tapering off psychiatric drugs and recovering from withdrawal syndrome.

diminish or lessen gradually; to become smaller, slower, quieter, etc.