DIE OFF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does die off mean? 

• DIE OFF (verb)
  The verb DIE OFF has 1 sense:

1. become extinct

  Familiarity information: DIE OFF used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIE OFF (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become extinct

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

die off; die out

Context example:

Dinosaurs died out

Hypernyms (to "die off" is one way to...):

disappear; go away; vanish (get lost, as without warning or explanation)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

It's a process similar to the uptake of carbon dioxide, whereby plants absorb gaseous mercury from the atmosphere and as they shed their leaves or die off, this mercury deposits to the tundra.

(Study finds mercury levels in Arctic soils 5 times higher than temperate regions, National Science Foundation)

Rod photoreceptors, the light-sensing cells that die off first in retinitis pigmentosa, were precipitously lost along with a surge in the expression of neurotoxic inflammatory cytokines.

(Immune system can slow degenerative eye disease, National Institutes of Health)

PD is a neurodegenerative disorder in which dopamine-producing brain cells die off, resulting in tremors, muscle stiffness, loss of balance and slow movement.

(Immune system may mount an attack in Parkinson’s disease, National Institutes of Health)

As the corals die off, the algae have even more space to take over, leading to further coral mortality.

(Too much algae and too many microbes threaten coral reefs, NSF)