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Webster 1913 Edition


Dwindle

Dwin′dle

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dwindled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Dwindling
.]
[From OE.
dwinen
to languish, waste away, AS.
dwīnan
; akin to LG.
dwinen
, D.
dwijnen
to vanish, Icel.
dvīna
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.
Shakespeare
Religious societies, though begun with excellent intentions,
are said to have
dwindled
into factious clubs.
Swift.

Dwin′dle

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To make less; to bring low.
Our drooping days are
dwindled
down to naught.
Thomson.
2.
To break; to disperse.
[R.]
Clarendon.

Dwin′dle

,
Noun.
The process of dwindling; dwindlement; decline; degeneracy.
[R.]
Johnson.

Webster 1828 Edition


Dwindle

DWIN'DLE

,
Verb.
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

,
Verb.
T.
To make less; to bring low.
1.
To break; to disperse.

Definition 2024


dwindle

dwindle

English

Verb

dwindle (third-person singular simple present dwindles, present participle dwindling, simple past and past participle dwindled)

  1. (intransitive) To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity.
    • 1802, Erasmus, The Complaint of Peace, translated by T. Paynell,
      [E]very thing that was improving gradually degenerates and dwindles away to nothing, []
  2. (intransitive, figuratively) To fall away in quality; degenerate, sink.
    The flattery of his friends began to dwindle into simple approbation. (Goldsmith, Vicar, III)
    • Jonathan Swift
      Religious societies, though begun with excellent intentions, are said to have dwindled into factious clubs.
    • 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):
      [] [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.
  3. To lessen; to bring low.
    • Thomson
      Our drooping days are dwindled down to naught.
  4. To break up or disperse.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Clarendon to this entry?)

Translations

References

  1. Dictionary entry of the alternative spelling
  2. dwindle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913: "akin to ... Icel. dvína to cease"
  3. dwindle in Merriam Webster's dictionary : "akin to Old Norse dvīna to pine away"
  4. The Danish descendant of the ON word in ODS