: a sudden sharp decline of a population of animals or plants that is not caused directly by human activity
died off; dying off; dies off
: to die sequentially either singly or in numbers so that the total number is greatly diminished
Examples of die-off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Brandi D. Addison,
USA Today,
2 July 2026
The wetland has absorbed toxic runoff from a warehouse fire before, resulting in a fish die-off.
—
Mack Baysinger
follow,
Los Angeles Times,
27 June 2026
Ann Manov,
Harpers Magazine,
30 June 2026
When this happens, the oven continues to generate microwaves that rapidly change frequency as the power dies off over a fraction of a second, mimicking dispersion.
—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
26 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for die-off
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Noun
Researchers found little evidence that disease caused the die-off.
—
Brandi D. Addison,
USA Today,
2 July 2026
The wetland has absorbed toxic runoff from a warehouse fire before, resulting in a fish die-off.
—
Mack Baysinger
follow,
Los Angeles Times,
27 June 2026
Verb
Rather than just letting humanities departments die off, red-state legislatures have flooded public universities with something like a Works Progress Administration for academics.
—
Ann Manov,
Harpers Magazine,
30 June 2026
When this happens, the oven continues to generate microwaves that rapidly change frequency as the power dies off over a fraction of a second, mimicking dispersion.
—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
26 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for die-off
Cite this Entry
“Die-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/die-off. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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