dwindles

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Related to dwindles: sort out, collide with, undergoes

dwindles

(informal) a condition of physical deterioration involving several body systems, usually in an elderly person.

dwindles

(dwĭn′dĭlz) [AS dwinan, to waste away]

A colloquial term for failure to thrive.

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References in periodicals archive ?

What used to be delicately termed ``the change'' is defined medically as the cessation of menstruation and the end of a woman's childbearing years, after her stock of healthy eggs dwindles with a corresponding drop in the levels of the female hormone estrogen.

TAKING CHARGE OF MENOPAUSE : BOOMERS SEEKING BETTER WAY TO COPE WITH THE `CHANGE'

Prior investigations have found that 2-month-old babies distinguish speech sounds employed in many languages, an ability that dwindles as youngsters learn a native tongue (SN: 2/8/92, p.