peter out
English
Etymology
1846 US miners’ slang, from 1812 peter (“to become exhausted”).[1] Various speculative etymologies have been suggested, either from St. Peter (from the sense of “rock”), French péter (“to fart”), or saltpeter (ingredient in gunpowder, hence used in mining).[2][3][4][5]
Pronunciation
Audio (AU): (file)
Verb
peter out (third-person singular simple present peters out, present participle petering out, simple past and past participle petered out)
- (idiomatic) To dwindle; to trail off; to diminish to nothing.
- What started as a great effort ended up petering out to nothing.
Translations
to diminish
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References
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “peter (v.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ Gary Martin (1997–) “Peter out”, in The Phrase Finder, retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ “ami: origin of “peter out””, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[1], 2010 January 18 (last accessed), archived from the original on 6 June 2010
- ^ Take Our Word For It #117
- ^ A Hog On Ice & Other Curious Expressions, Charles Funk, 1948.