Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

taper off

/ˈteɪpɚ ɔf/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.30 in modern English

Syllables: ta-per off
IPA: /ˈteɪpɚ ɔf/

16

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To diminish or lessen gradually; to become or make smaller, slower, quieter, etc.

verb

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see taper, off.

Example Sentences

"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."
"To fill this gap, over the last 25 years, patients have developed a robust Internet-based subculture of volunteer peer support for tapering off psychiatric drugs and recovering from withdrawal syndrome."
"The glass tapers off at the top."

Etymology

From taper and off.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈteɪpɚ ɔf/
British English: /ˈteɪpə ɒf/

Inflected Forms

tapers off (present, singular) tapering off (participle, present) tapered off (participle, past) tapered off (past)

Frequently Paired Words

cycle off cruise discontinue

Synonyms

peter out fizzle out fizzle

Questions

How do you pronounce taper off?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈteɪpɚ ɔf/.
What does taper off mean?: To diminish or lessen gradually; to become or make smaller, slower, quieter, etc.
Where does taper off come from?: From taper and off.

How to pronounce taper off

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “taper off”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈteɪpɚ ɔf/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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