tail off
phrasal verb
tailed off; tailing off; tails off
: to become smaller or quieter in a gradual way
Our productivity tailed off last year.
She started to ask a question and then her voice tailed off.
Examples of tail off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The best way to do that is actually playing your tail off, at game speed, against the best in the biz.
—
Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 11 June 2024
Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T, had more than 9,000 outages at one point but the reports had also tailed off later in the afternoon.
—Michelle Chapman, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024
And the best way to answer them is not by sitting out — but by actually playing your tail off, at game speed, against the best in the biz.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 11 June 2024
But, as Betts’ numbers tailed off, speculation started to spur.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2024
The efforts by student groups and women’s organizations to organize protests against political repression and human rights violations have tailed off, replaced by impromptu violent riots over economic grievances, water shortages, and power outages.
—Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 5 Aug. 2021
Grove went on to win 300 games and reach the Hall of Fame; Earnshaw tailed off as his night life of carousing took its toll.
—Mike Klingaman, Baltimore Sun, 14 May 2024
But unless interest in the beef (or at least Kendrick’s musical part in it) tails off mightily in the last couple days of the tracking week, Richman’s likely gonna have to wait at least one more week to climb that last spot and take over the Hot 100’s apex.
—Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
The Three Crowns’s McEvoy thinks that has tailed off in place of Guinness.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 16 Mar. 2024
Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 11 June 2024
Cricket Wireless, which is owned by AT&T, had more than 9,000 outages at one point but the reports had also tailed off later in the afternoon.
—Michelle Chapman, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024
And the best way to answer them is not by sitting out — but by actually playing your tail off, at game speed, against the best in the biz.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 11 June 2024
But, as Betts’ numbers tailed off, speculation started to spur.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2024
The efforts by student groups and women’s organizations to organize protests against political repression and human rights violations have tailed off, replaced by impromptu violent riots over economic grievances, water shortages, and power outages.
—Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 5 Aug. 2021
Grove went on to win 300 games and reach the Hall of Fame; Earnshaw tailed off as his night life of carousing took its toll.
—Mike Klingaman, Baltimore Sun, 14 May 2024
But unless interest in the beef (or at least Kendrick’s musical part in it) tails off mightily in the last couple days of the tracking week, Richman’s likely gonna have to wait at least one more week to climb that last spot and take over the Hot 100’s apex.
—Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
The Three Crowns’s McEvoy thinks that has tailed off in place of Guinness.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 16 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tail off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tail off
Cite this Entry
“Tail off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tail%20off. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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