peter out

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peter out

/ˌpiːtəɹ‿ˈaʊt/ UK
/ˌpitɚ‿ˈaʊt/ US
[-ɾɚ-] US

Rhymes with -aʊt

Where it comes from

From peter (“diminish to nothing”, intransitive verb) + out. First attested in the mid-1800s.

verb peters out · petering out · petered out

intransitive Synonym of peter (“to diminish to nothing, (originally) to refer to a vein of ore”). What started as a great effort ended up petering out to nothing.
Similar: dwindle, fade away, fade out, gutter out, spin down, tail away, trail off, peter

Translations

Every language

verb to diminish to nothing — see also dwindle

Español	debilitarse, disminuirse, extinguirse, flaquear, flojear
Português	diminuir
Français	tarir
Deutsch	dahinschwinden, schwinden, totlaufen, verlaufen, versanden, verschwinden
Italiano	esaurirsi, ridùrsi
Русский	выдыха́ться vydyxátʹsja, вы́дохнуться výdoxnutʹsja
العربية	غَارَ ḡāra

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MLA

"peter out." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/peter%20out. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

peter out. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/peter%20out

Chicago

"peter out." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/peter%20out.

BibTeX

@misc{peter_out_2026,
  title = {peter out},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/peter%20out},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}