Literary notes about dwindling (AI summary)
The word "dwindling" is frequently used to evoke a sense of gradual reduction or decay, whether it be in physical, emotional, or conceptual elements. Authors use it to show not only the slow disappearance of tangible landscapes—as with a stream diminishing beneath a stone bridge [1] or a retreating army losing strength [2]—but also the gradual loss of hope, resources, or vitality within characters' lives, as seen in the daily diminishing of an entity [3] or the fading of a soul’s fire [4]. The term, therefore, becomes a powerful literary device that encapsulates the inevitability of decline, whether it is the steady shrinking of natural features and societal customs [5, 6] or the diminishing store of cherished possessions and emotions [7, 8]. In each instance, "dwindling" enriches the narrative by emphasizing the slow, often melancholic, erosion of what once was robust and full.
- Through the leafless branches I see the temple in the wood; Over the dwindling stream the stone bridge towers.
— from A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems - Jackson’s army retreated for seven days before Frémont, dwindling in numbers at every step, and yet it never fought better than when it turned at bay.
— from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll - Though it has not yet finally disappeared, it is dwindling daily.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - He was sitting perfectly still, and his eyes looked dull, as though the fire of life was dwindling within.
— from Lady Jim of Curzon Street: A Novel by Fergus Hume - Enlargement would serve to enhance the dwindling geopolitical relevance of the EU and heal some of the multiple rifts with the USA.
— from The Belgian Curtain: Europe after Communism by Samuel Vaknin - Her population was dwindling to not much more than half its former numbers, while Ghent, Bruges, and other cities were diminished by two-thirds.
— from History of the United Netherlands, 1590a by John Lothrop Motley - Every moment was precious, and any not given to love was a robbery from her dwindling store.
— from The Nest, The White Pagoda, The Suicide, A Forsaken Temple, Miss Jones and the Masterpiece by Anne Douglas Sedgwick - The cutter was going in the direction of the Frome farm, and Ethan's heart contracted as he listened to the dwindling bells.
— from Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
