to become smaller and smaller; shrink; waste away: His vast fortune has dwindled away.
to fall away, as in quality; degenerate.
verb (used with object),dwin·dled,dwin·dling.
to make smaller and smaller; cause to shrink: Failing health dwindles ambition.
Origin of dwindle
1590–1600; dwine (now dial.) to waste away (Middle English; Old English dwīnan; cognate with Middle Dutch dwīnen to languish, Old Norse dvīna to pine away) + -le
Sea ice in the Bering Sea, on the southern margin of the Arctic Ocean, dwindled to its smallest wintertime expanse in 5,500 years in 2018, new data show.
Bering Sea winter ice shrank to its lowest level in 5,500 years in 2018|Carolyn Gramling|September 3, 2020|Science News
The decision to close a plant often heralds a chaotic time on the ground, as a dwindling team on site shoulders the responsibility of continuing to run a facility slated for closure.
Unmade in America|Tate Ryan-Mosley|August 14, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Faced with closing stores and dwindling foot traffic, US mall owners have been looking beyond retailers to occupy their empty spaces.
Amazon wants to turn your local Sears into a warehouse|Marc Bain|August 10, 2020|Quartz
The weather previously played a greater role in voter turnout, but the effects have been dwindling, researchers said.
Election Day Brings Steady Rain, Determined Voters|Shirley Carswell|November 7, 2018|TruthBeTold.news
While public interest in Ebola continues to dwindle, the epidemic itself continues to soar.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If the money starts to dwindle, then Snyder will do something.
The Native Americans Who Voted for ‘The Fighting Sioux’|Evan Weiner|June 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Voegeli charges that Geoffrey Kabaservice and I propose only that Republicans dwindle into Democrats-lite.
What Comes After the Tea Party?|David Frum|February 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This comes a day after the possibility of a potential third-party run by Lisa Murkowski began to dwindle.
Alaska's Murkowski Is Finished|Shushannah Walshe|August 31, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Terror continues to win as our civil liberties continue to dwindle.
How The Media Chose Its Boston 'Suspects'|Maysoon Zayid|April 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When they are wanted, they dwindle, when they are wanted most urgently, they fade and die away altogether.
Liberalism and the Social Problem|Winston Spencer Churchill
Will the magnificent pretensions of the "Head of Navigation" dwindle into thin air?
The History of Peru|Henry S. Beebe
But he seemed to dwindle and pine, somehow, and Cyril and I got dreadfully anxious about him.
Lover or Friend|Rosa Nouchette Carey
There has to be a continual shepherding of the flock or the Church might dwindle sadly.
The Hearts of Men|H. Fielding
And if the pressure be strong, as it sometimes is, must they not dwindle away?
The Young Mother|William A. Alcott
British Dictionary definitions for dwindle
dwindle
/ (ˈdwɪndəl) /
verb
to grow or cause to grow less in size, intensity, or number; diminish or shrink gradually
Word Origin for dwindle
C16: from Old English dwīnan to waste away; related to Old Norse dvīna to pine away