die off
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Related to die off: die out
die off
To become extinct gradually, as of a group of people or animals. That species of birds will die off if we keep destroying their habitat.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
die off
[for a living thing] to perish one by one until there are no more. Most of the larger lizards died off eons ago. It would be really bad if all the owls died off. The cucumber blossoms all died off.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
die off
Perish one by one, as in A celibate community, the Shakers are dying off. [Late 1600s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
die off
v.
To become extinct gradually: The dodo died off in the 1600s. Wolves were dying off in the formerly rural area as new subdivisions were built.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.