die out
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb (intransitive) 1. To become extinct or disappear completely: To cease to exist, typically referring to a species, family, custom, or practice over a period of time. 2. To fade away or diminish until gone: To gradually become weaker or less common and then stop.
Usage
- This verb is intransitive; it does not take a direct object.
- It describes a process that happens over time.
- It is often used in the simple past tense to state that something has already ceased to exist.
Examples
- Species/Animals:
- Many large mammals, like the woolly mammoth, died out at the end of the last Ice Age.
- If we don't protect their habitat, these rare birds could die out.
- Customs/Traditions/Languages:
- The old tradition of telling stories around the fire has almost died out.
- Linguists are working to document languages before they die out.
- Families/Dynasties:
- The royal family died out in the 18th century, with no surviving heirs.
Advanced Usage
- "to die out" vs. "to die off": These are often used interchangeably. However, "die off" can sometimes imply a series of deaths reducing a group, while "die out" emphasizes the final, complete extinction of the group.
- The fish began to die off due to pollution. Eventually, the entire species died out.
Variants and Related Words
- Die (verb): To stop living. (The basic, singular action).
- Die-off (noun): A sudden, sharp decline in a population.
- Scientists are concerned about the bee die-off.
- Extinct (adjective): No longer in existence.
- The dodo bird is extinct.
Synonyms
- Become extinct
- Vanish
- Disappear
- Cease to exist
- Go extinct
- Perish (as a group)
Antonyms
- Survive
- Thrive
- Flourish
- Emerge
- Come into being
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Die down: To become less strong or loud.
- Wait for the noise to die down before you speak.
- Die away: To gradually become quieter or weaker until inaudible or gone (often for sounds).
- The sound of the music died away in the distance.
Notes
The provided reference context includes a separate, technical, and less common meaning: "to cut or shape with a die." This is a transitive verb (e.g., die out leather for belts) and is considered a different sense of the verb "die" (related to tooling/manufacturing), not a meaning of the phrasal verb "die out" in common modern usage. The primary and almost exclusive meaning of the phrasal verb "die out" is "to become extinct."
Verb
- cut or shape with a die
- Die out leather for belts
- become extinct
- Dinosaurs died out