dwindle

C2+ Topic:Numbers & Quantity

US /ˈdwɪndəl/ UK /ˈdwɪndəl/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength

Their savings began to dwindle after months without work.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to diminish gradually in... diminish decrease shrink wane decline lessen fade ebb

Opposites

grow increase expand swell wax

Word family

Forms dwindling

Derived forms dwindling

Etymology

A frequentative of dialectal 'dwine' ('to waste away'), from Old English 'dwīnan' ('to dwindle, languish'), from Proto-Germanic '*dwīnaną'.

dwīnan Old English *dwīnaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Numbers & Quantity

# dwindle

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˈdwɪndəl
**IPA (UK):** ˈdwɪndəl

## Meanings
1. to diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength

## Examples
- Their savings began to dwindle after months without work.

## Synonyms
- diminish
- decrease
- shrink
- wane
- decline
- lessen
- fade
- ebb

## Antonyms
- grow
- increase
- expand
- swell
- wax

## Derived Forms
- dwindling

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dwīnan
- Root: *dwīnaną

## Etymology
A frequentative of dialectal 'dwine' ('to waste away'), from Old English 'dwīnan' ('to dwindle, languish'), from Proto-Germanic '*dwīnaną'.

## AI Etymology
Dwindle is a frequentative of dialectal 'dwine' ('to waste away'), from Old English 'dwīnan' ('to dwindle, languish'), from Proto-Germanic '*dwīnaną'. The ancestry passes through Old English dwīnan and Proto-Germanic *dwīnaną. In present use as a verb, it means "to diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Derived forms include dwindling. Its contrast set includes grow, increase, expand, and swell, which clarifies the semantic boundary of the modern word.

## Topics
- Numbers & Quantity

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dwindle

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