Dwindle: meaning, example and synonyms
Dwindlev. To diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength.
Example
As the mill towns emptied, membership in the choral society dwindled until only a handful of singers gathered in the drafty hall.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Synonyms
- diminish, shrink, decline, wane
- Antonyms
- grow, increase, swell, multiply
- Memory tip
- Picture a candle dwindling: a little smaller every hour.
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Check yourself: Dwindle in context
As rival trade routes opened to the south, traffic through the mountain pass ______, and the once-busy inns along it closed one by one.
Answer: dwindled. Inns closing one by one shows traffic shrinking gradually: it dwindled. Entrenched, prescribed and replenished need an object and don't describe a decline.
Without new recruits, the volunteer fire brigade's ranks began to ______, until only a few aging members remained to answer calls.
Answer: dwindle. Ranks shrinking to a few members dwindle. Prescribe (lay down a rule), extricate (free) and prefigure (foreshadow) need objects and don't describe gradual shrinking.