Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DWIN'DLE, v.i. [Sax. dwinan, to pine, to vanish; Sw. taina; G. schwinden. I suppose founded on the root of wane or vain, vanish.]

1. To diminish; to become less; to shrink; to waste or consume away. The body dwindles by pining or consumption; an estate dwindles by waste, by want of industry or economy; an object dwindles in size as it recedes from view; an army dwindles by death or desertion. Our drooping days are dwindled down to naught. – Thomson.
2. To degenerate; to sink; to fall away. Religious societies may dwindle into factious clubs. – Swift.