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pē′tər out′
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Received-Pronunciation:
/ˌpiːtəɹ‿ˈaʊt/
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General-American:
/ˌpitɚ‿ˈaʊt/
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General-American:
[-ɾɚ-]
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Australia:
Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -aʊt
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Synonym of peter (“to diminish to nothing, (originally) to refer to a vein of ore”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
What started as a great effort ended up petering out to nothing.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dwindle, fade away, fade out, gutter out, spin down, tail away, trail off, peter
Antonyms: none provided
use up all one's strength and energy and stop working
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
At the end of the march, I pooped out
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: poop out, run down, run out, conk out
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: tire, pall, weary, fatigue, jade
end weakly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
The music just petered out--there was no proper ending
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: taper off, fizzle out, fizzle
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: discontinue
From peter (“diminish to nothing”, intransitive verb) + out. First attested in the mid-1800s.
Across languages
Translations 35 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic :
غَارَ
(ḡāra)
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Czech :
vymizet
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Czech :
vytratit se
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Dutch :
afsterven
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Dutch :
verdwijnen
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Finnish :
huveta
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Finnish :
loppua
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Finnish :
sammua
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
French :
tarir
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
German :
dahinschwinden
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
German :
schwinden
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
German :
totlaufen
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
German :
verlaufen
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
German :
versanden
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
German :
verschwinden
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Hungarian :
elenyészik
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Hungarian :
enyészik
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Italian :
esaurirsi
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Italian :
ridùrsi
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Macedonian :
се све́де
(se svéde)
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Norwegian Bokmål :
ebbe ut
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Polish :
zamierać
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Polish :
zamrzeć
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Polish :
zanikać
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Polish :
zaniknąć
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Portuguese :
diminuir
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Russian :
выдыха́ться
(vydyxátʹsja)
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Russian :
вы́дохнуться
(výdoxnutʹsja)
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Serbo-Croatian :
mànjkati
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Spanish :
debilitarse
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Spanish :
disminuirse
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Spanish :
extinguirse
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Spanish :
flaquear
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Spanish :
flojear
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
Swedish :
sina
— to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle
