Adjacent Words

Dwindle definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DWIN'DLE, v.i.
1. To diminish; to become less; to shrink; to waste or consume away. The body dwindles by pining or consumption; an estate swindles by waste, by want of industry or economy; an object dwindles in size, as it recedes from view; an army dwindles by death or desertion.
Our drooping days have dwindled down to naught.
2. To degenerate; to sink; to fall away.
Religious societies may dwindle into factious clubs.
DWIN'DLE, v.t. To make less; to bring low.
1. To break; to disperse.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: become smaller or lose substance; "Her savings dwindled down" [syn: dwindle, dwindle away, dwindle down]

Merriam Webster's

verb (dwindled; dwindling) Etymology: probably frequentative of dwine to waste away, from Middle English, from Old English dw?nan; akin to Old Norse dv?na to pine away, deyja to die — more at die Date: 1596 intransitive verb to become steadily less ; shrink transitive verb to make steadily less Synonyms: see decrease

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. 1 become gradually smaller; shrink; waste away. 2 lose importance; decline; degenerate. Etymology: dwine fade away f. OE dwinan, ON dvina

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dwindle Dwin"dle, v. t. 1. To make less; to bring low. Our drooping days are dwindled down to naught. --Thomson. 2. To break; to disperse. [R.] --Clarendon.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dwindle Dwin"dle, n. The process of dwindling; dwindlement; decline; degeneracy. [R.] --Johnson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dwindle Dwin"dle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dwindled; p. pr. & vb. n. Dwindling.] [From OE. dwinen to languish, waste away, AS. dw[=i]nan; akin to LG. dwinen, D. dwijnen to vanish, Icel. dv[=i]na to cease, dwindle, Sw. tvina; of uncertain origin. The suffix -le, preceded by d excrescent after n, is added to the root with a diminutive force.] To diminish; to become less; to shrink; to waste or consume away; to become degenerate; to fall away. Weary sennights nine times nine Shall he dwindle, peak and pine. --Shak. Religious societies, though begun with excellent intentions, are said to have dwindled into factious clubs. --Swift.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dwindles, dwindling, dwindled) If something dwindles, it becomes smaller, weaker, or less in number. The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred... He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. = shrink VERB: V, V-ing

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Diminish, decrease, lessen, shrink, grow less, grow little. 2. Sink, degenerate, decline, decay, fall away, fall off. II. v. a. Diminish, decrease, lessen, make less.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, ablate, attenuate, bate, be consumed, be eaten away, be gone, calm, calm down, cease, cease to be, cease to exist, close, condense, consume, consume away, contract, corrode, crumble, decline, decrease, deliquesce, dematerialize, depart, die, die away, die down, die out, diminish, disappear, dispel, disperse, dissipate, dissolve, dive, do a fade-out, drift away, droop, drop, drop off, ebb, erode, evanesce, evaporate, exit, extenuate, fade, fade away, fade out, fail, fall, fall away, fall off, fall short, flag, flee, fly, go, go away, halt, hide, languish, leave no trace, leave the scene, lessen, let up, lose strength, lull, melt, melt away, moderate, molder, move away, move off, pacify, pass, pass away, pass out, peak, perish, peter out, pine, plummet, plunge, pull away, quiesce, quiet, quieten, recede, reduce, retire, retire from sight, retreat, retrocede, run down, run low, sag, shrink, shrivel up, sink, sink away, soothe, stand off, stop, subside, suffer an eclipse, tail off, taper, taper off, thin, tranquilize, vanish, vanish from sight, wane, waste, waste away, weaken, wear, wear away, widen the distance, wilt, withdraw, wither, wither away