to peter out
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To come gradually to an end, to give out. The phrase came from the Ameri- can mining camps of about '49, but its origin is not known.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to peter out” mean?
To come gradually to an end, to give out. The phrase came from the Ameri- can mining camps of about '49, but its origin is not known.
Is “to peter out” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.