: 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
Graham A. J. Worthy, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2018
That event spawned numerous studies and research papers, and was associated with hundreds of deaths, mass die-offs of marine life, crop loss and infrastructure damage.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2024
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 19 June 2024
If global temperatures increase between 1.6 to 2.1 degrees Celsius, the southern population of Hudson Bay bears will die off.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for die-off 
Noun
Poor water quality and toxic algal blooms have resulted in fish kills, manatee and dolphin die-offs, and takeovers by invasive species.
—Graham A. J. Worthy, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2018
That event spawned numerous studies and research papers, and was associated with hundreds of deaths, mass die-offs of marine life, crop loss and infrastructure damage.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2024
Verb
Share [Findings] Inland waters are emitting previously unaccounted-for levels of carbon dioxide, and freshwater insects are flourishing even as terrestrial insects are dying off.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 19 June 2024
If global temperatures increase between 1.6 to 2.1 degrees Celsius, the southern population of Hudson Bay bears will die off.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for die-off
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'die-off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Die-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/die-off. Accessed 3 Jul. 2024.
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