taper off
UK/ˈteɪpə ɒf/US/ˈteɪpɚ ɔf/
taper off verb: to diminish or lessen gradually; to become or make smaller, slower, quieter, etc.
Verb
taper off (third-person singular simple present tapers off, present participle tapering off, simple past and past participle tapered off)
- To diminish or lessen gradually; to become or make smaller, slower, quieter, etc.
- Months after they printed the article, the number of angry letters finally started to taper off.
- The traffic tapers off towards mid-May, but it continues in some measure throughout the off-peak months.1960 September, G. Freeman Allen, “I.C.I. fertiliser goes by rail from Tees-side”, in Trains Illustrated, page 534
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see taper, off.
- The glass tapers off at the top.
Forms of taper off
| third-person singular present | tapers off |
|---|---|
| present participle | tapering off |
| past participle | tapered off |
| past | tapered off |
Origin of taper off
From taper and off.
Questions about taper off
- What does taper off mean?
- Taper off means to diminish or lessen gradually; to become or make smaller, slower, quieter, etc.
- What part of speech is taper off?
- Taper off is a verb.
- How do you pronounce taper off?
- Taper off is pronounced /ˈteɪpə ɒf/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of taper off?
- The past tense of taper off is tapered off.
Words near taper off in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: taper off (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-taper off.ogg.
Cite this entry: “taper off.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taper_off. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.