dwindle
To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensityTo decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity.
» Our numbers are dwindling.
Unsere Zahl schwindet hin.
Meaning
4 senses(intransitive)To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity.
Their supplies began to dwindle after a week.
Interest in the project slowly dwindled.
schwinden, abnehmen
уменьша́тьсяumenʹšátʹsja, уме́ньшитьсяuménʹšitʹsja, сокраща́тьсяsokraščátʹsja
зменшуватисяzmenšuvatysja, скорочуватисяskoročuvatysja, убуватиubuvaty
(figuratively, intransitive)To fall away in quality; degenerate, sink.
(transitive)To lessen; to bring low.
To break up or disperse.
- become smaller or lose substance
Examples
21 sentencesOur numbers are dwindling.
deUnsere Zahl schwindet hin.
The number of giraffes is dwindling.
The town's population dwindled and dwindled.
deDie Bevölkerung der Stadt nahm immer weiter ab.
Daylight in the room was dwindling.
deDas Tageslicht entschwand aus dem Zimmer.
The company's profit is slowly dwindling away.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Frequentative form of dwine, from Middle English dwynen, from Old English dwīnan (“to wastFrequentative form of dwine, from Middle English dwynen, from Old English dwīnan (“to waste away”), from Proto-West Germanic *dwīnan, from Proto-Germanic *dwīnaną. It is equivalent to dwine + -le, akin to Old Norse dvena, dvína, Dutch verdwijnen (“to disappear, dwindle”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
dwindles, dwindling, dwindled, dwindledSynonyms
8 synonyms- become smaller or lose substance:dwindle awaydwindle down
Word family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle