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Glite Dictionary
👥 To reduce numbers 🌫️ To become sparse 🥤 To dilute
to thin out

to thin out

5 3.5
Remove some people or things so the rest are more spread out
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : despejar
  • "We thin out the trees based on size and spacing and remove dead and damaged ones," Mathias says.
  • crowds thinned out
  • thin out the population
  • thin out the forest

The next one is ask your Barber to thin out your hair if it's too heavy.

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Examples

  • As I gained more altitude, the pines thinned out.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • And please do not think of this as an effort to 'thin out the competition.'

    Blog text (5)

  • The crowd was starting to thin out.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The crowd has thinned out; people are leaving.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The next one is ask your Barber to thin out your hair if it's too heavy.

    Alex Costa

  • So we began to thin out what had been these very vertically integrated groups of firms.

  • Start thinning out the herd and maybe some of these problems will start to subside.

    Blog text (31)

  • As the rain continued, the crowd began to thin out and leave the stadium.

  • The gardener decided to thin out the young plants to allow more sunlight and space for growth.

  • After the rush hour ended, traffic on the highway started to thin out significantly.

Synonyms

to cut down
vsto thin out
65 2.7

To make something smaller in amount or number

does reduction by removing members to spread the remainder more sparsely
to thin
vsto thin out
38 1.4

To become less thick or crowded, for example a crowd

reduces number by removing members so what remains is more sparse
to whittle down
vsto thin out
10 5.1

To make a list or group smaller by removing items over time

focuses on reducing quantity to spread what remains more sparsely
to pare down
vsto thin out
9 4.4

Make something smaller by removing parts you do not need

targets removing members to make the remainder more widely spread
to whittle away
vsto thin out
3 5.9

To make something smaller gradually by cutting or wearing it away

reduces density by removing members to leave a sparser distribution
to rarefy
vsto thin out
  • Specialized
9.9

To make air or other things thinner so they have more empty space

removes parts or members to spread the remainder more sparsely

Antonyms

to thicken
35 2.3

Become or make something less runny

How Dense

to thin out
  • Informal
5 3.5
to cull
  • Specialized
9 7.0
to scatter
110 2.7

Surface Forms

thin out infinitive
thinned out past
thinned out past participle
thinning out present participle
thins out third person singular

Morphology

thin + out

The verb 'thin' (to make less dense) combined with the particle 'out' produces a meaning that is directly inferable — to make fewer or more sparsely distributed — following a common English verb + particle composition. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

The verb thin out also comes from removing some parts so the rest are more spread out, like a gardener taking away extra young plants to give room to the others. That's why it means 'to reduce the number of things or people so what remains is less crowded'.