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Glite Dictionary
to level off

to level off

17 3.9
Become steady after rising or falling
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈlɛvəl ɔf/
translation icon : estabilizarse
  • After several months of rapid growth, the company's profits began to level off and stabilize.
  • membership growth leveling off
  • rates leveled off
  • eventually levels off

And hopefully they will level off and start to decrease next week.

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Examples

  • Energy growth in the world's most industrialized nations has leveled off over the past decade.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Party-coordinated expenditures grew somewhat between 2008 and 2010, but then leveled off in 2012.

    Academic text (2014)

  • But then sales start to level off.

    The Founder (2016)

  • Further, efforts to meet college entrance requirements begin to level off during the junior year.

    Academic text (1991)

  • And hopefully they will level off and start to decrease next week.

    ZOE

  • Prices have leveled off, though, right?

    The Big Short (2015)

  • In a few minutes, the plane leveled off and the ride again became smooth.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The plane took a steep dive, but has since leveled off and seems steady.

    Turbulence (1997)

  • But crime rates leveled off in the 1970s and 1980s and declined significantly in the 1990s.

    Academic text (2003)

  • American participation rates in tertiary education have leveled off and show indications of declining.

    Academic text (2005)

Synonyms

to stabilize
vsto level off
  • US
75 4.3

To become steady and stop changing

means stopping change after a rise or fall, not gradual strengthening
to flatline
vsto level off
3 6.1

To stop changing or getting better and stay at the same level

happens after a rise or fall rather than only pausing progress
to plateau
vsto level off
1 5.1

To stop increasing and stay at the same level for a while

occurs after a rise or fall, marking a stop in change

Antonyms

to fluctuate
52 6.3

Change often in level or amount, going up and down without a clear pattern

How Steady

to stabilize
  • US
75 4.3
to plateau
1 5.1
to level off
17 3.9
to settle
540 2.8
to even out
18 3.4
to vary
239 2.5
to fluctuate
52 6.3

Surface Forms

level off infinitive
leveled off past
leveled off past participle
leveling off present participle
levels off third person singular

Morphology

level + off

The meaning 'to become steady or stop changing' is directly derivable from 'level' (flat/steady) combined with the particle 'off', which here signals movement into or completion of that state. This follows a common verb+particle composition pattern in English (and has clear parallels in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The phrasal verb level off comes from the image of a climb that becomes flat: after going up, the ground or a plane becomes level and the rise stops, which is the idea of off. So, it means 'become steady' or 'stop changing'.