dwindle
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Frequentative form of dwine, from Middle English dwinen, from Old English dwīnan (“to waste away”), equivalent to dwine + -le, akin to Old Norse dvena[1]/dvína [2][3](Danish tvine (“to pine away”), Dutch verdwijnen (“to disappear, dwindle”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
dwindle (third-person singular simple present dwindles, present participle dwindling, simple past and past participle dwindled)
- (intransitive) To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity.
- 1802, T. Paynell (translator), Erasmus, The Complaint of Peace
- [E]very thing that was improving gradually degenerates and dwindles away to nothing, […]
- 1802, T. Paynell (translator), Erasmus, The Complaint of Peace
- (intransitive, figuratively) To fall away in quality; degenerate, sink.
- 1709, [Jonathan Swift], A Project for the Advancement of Religion, and the Reformation of Manners. […], London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke, […], OCLC 220146796, page 44:
- Religious Societies, though begun with excellent Intention, and by Perſons of true Piety, have dwindled into factious Clubs; […]
- 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, Vicar, III
- The flattery of his friends began to dwindle into simple approbation.
- 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress
- The larger the empire, the more dwindles the mind of the citizen.
- 2014 September 26, Charles Quest-Ritson, “The Dutch garden where tulip bulbs live forever: Hortus Bulborum, a volunteer-run Dutch garden, is dedicated to conserving historic varieties before they vanish for good [print version: Inspired by a living bulb archive, 27 September 2014, p. G5]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)[1]:
- […] [I]nfected tulips are weakened by the viruses that cause the very patterns and swirls that fascinated horticulturists and investors in the first place. Such bulbs tend to dwindle away instead of fattening up and producing offsets.
- (transitive) To lessen; to bring low.
- 1728, James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, OCLC 642619686:
- Our drooping days are dwindled down to nought.
- To break up or disperse.
- 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, OCLC 937919305:
- there were only five hundred foot and three hundred horse left with him , for the blocking of Plymouth ; the rest were dwindled away
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
(intransitive) to decrease, shrink, vanish
|
|
References[edit]
- ^ Dictionary entry of the alternative spelling
- ^ dwindle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.: "akin to ... Icel. dvína to cease"
- ^ dwindle in Merriam Webster's dictionary : "akin to Old Norse dvīna to pine away"
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English words suffixed with -le (verbal frequentative)
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪndəl
- Rhymes:English/ɪndəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English transitive verbs
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰegʷʰ-