taper off[verb]Synonyms: decrease, abate, bate, close, diminish, drain (away), dwindle, lessen, reduce, taper
English Thesaurus: decrease, go down, decline, diminish, fall/drop, ... [TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
decrease to become less in number or amount:
The average rainfall has decreased by around 30 percent.go down to decrease.
Go down is less formal than
decrease and is the usual word to use in conversation:
Unemployment has gone down in the past few months.decline formal to decrease – used with numbers or amounts, or about the level or standard of something:
The standard of living has declined. Support for the government is steadily declining. Salaries have declined by around 4.5%.diminish to become smaller or less important:
Union membership diminished from 30,000 at its height to just 2,000 today.fall/drop to decrease, especially by a large amount.
Fall and
drop are less formal than
decrease:
The number of tigers in the wild has fallen to just over 10,000. At night, the temperature drops to minus 20 degrees.plunge /plʌndʒ/
plummet /ˈplʌmət, ˈplʌmɪt/ to suddenly decrease very quickly and by a very large amount:
Share prices have plummeted 29% in the last four months. Climate change could cause global temperatures to plummet.slide if a price or value slides, it gradually decreases in a way that causes problems – used especially in news reports:
The dollar fell in late trading in New York yesterday and slid further this morning.dwindle /ˈdwɪndl/ to gradually decrease until there is very little left of something, especially numbers or amounts, popularity, or importance:
Support for the theory is dwindling.taper off /ˈteɪpə $ -ər/ if a number or the amount of an activity that is happening tapers off, it gradually decreases, especially so that it stops completely:
Political violence tapered off after the elections.reduction used when the price, amount, or level of something is made lower:
There will be further price reductions in the sales. A small reduction in costs can mean a large increase in profits.cut used when a government or company reduces the price, amount, or level of something:
a 1% cut in interest rates tax cuts It is possible that there will be further job cuts.drop/fall used when the number, amount, or level of something goes down, especially by a large amount:
The figures showed a sharp fall in industrial output. There was a dramatic drop in temperature. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲
taper off v. 1. To come to an end little by little; become smaller toward the end.
The river tapers off here and becomes a brook. 2. To stop a habit gradually; do something less and less often.
Robert gave up smoking all at once instead of tapering off. Antonym: COLD TURKEY.
[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲