Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DWINDLE

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pronounce DWINDLE: Say it "DWIN dull." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: If you've watched The West Wing, you might remember this part: BARTLET: There are three words, and three words only in the English language that begin with the letters DW. JOSH: This is a pretty good illustration of why we get nothing done. BARTLET: Can anyone name them for me, please? Eventually, the characters come up with dwindle, dwarf, and dwell. They don't question Bartlet's decree about the "three words only." Why? What a bunch of dweebs. Hopefully, you're more skeptical. Hopefully, whenever you hear someone confidently announce some dubious fact about English, you crack open a dictionary. I went to the OED just now and counted 50 English words that begin with DW. To be fair, though, many are various forms of dwindle, dwarf, and dwell, and many are obsolete. Should we bring back dweomercraeft (jugglery) and dway-berry (deadly nightshade)? Dwindle, though. Dwindle is a staple in English. It's here to stay. It's kooky and cute. You could define it as to decline, to decrease, to diminish, or to die down. It's a weird, poetic word, much like its synonyms _bb and w_n_. Can you recall those? They're one syllable each. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)     definition: There's an old word that we don't use anymore in English: "dwine," meaning "to fade, to wither, to waste away." That's where we got our weird word "dwindle," which means just about the same thing. When something dwindles, it shrinks down, becomes less, or fades away. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Verb, most often the intransitive kind: "The crowds dwindle;" "Resources have dwindled." Other forms:  dwindled, dwindling how to use it: "Dwindle" is odd and poetic, but it's a common word. It often helps you express a wistful, melancholy tone. Anything that you can measure, literally or figuratively, can dwindle. It could be someone's weight, savings, energy, excitement, hopes, etc. Or it could be some physical object or event, like fire, rains, or sounds, or the size of some crowd, group, congregation, or population. You can simply say that something dwindles, or that it dwindles from or to a certain state. "The staff dwindled from two hundred to twenty." "The rain had dwindled to a fine drizzle (Gary L. Blackwood)." examples: "They were in a wretched state, worn out and worn down. Buck's one hundred and forty pounds had dwindled to one hundred and fifteen."    — Jack London, The Call of the Wild, 1903 "If bumblebee populations do continue to dwindle, most assuredly, we will be worse off for it."    — Carly Nairn, Undark, 3 February 2022 has this page helped you understand "dwindle"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "dwindle" without saying "waste away" or "gradually disappear." try it out: Let's play with the phrase "dwindle down." It's a bit redundant, since dwindling is always down, never up. But it's also alliterative, and who can resist a little alliteration? Fill in the blanks: "(Something) dwindled down to (some smaller amount)." Example 1: "The [mayoral] race has dwindled down to three remaining major candidates."    — August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2022 Example 2: "It burned redder than the other stars, and did not twinkle, though sometimes it flared up bright and sometimes dwindled down to no more than a distant spark, dull and faint."    — George R. R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, 1998 If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is Crossword Clues: Defining by Rhyming! Check out the given term, and try to complete the definition by supplying a missing rhyming word. For example, if I give you "bevy = _ _ _ _ herd," then you give me "bird," because a bevy is a bird herd. To peek at the answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy! anima mundi = pole-to-pole _ _ _ _ review this word: 1. Opposites of DWINDLE include A. SLIM and SHARPEN. B. GROW and FLOURISH. C. KINDLE and INSPIRE. 2. In a poem, William Wordsworth wrote, "And he is _____ and he is _____; / His body, dwindled and _____." A. lean .. sick .. awry B. sharp .. keen .. held high C. soft .. stout .. revived Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. A Answer to the game question: anima mundi = pole-to-pole soul a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.