trail off

trail off

To dwindle, diminish, or fade away; to become fainter or weaker. Used especially, though not exclusively, in reference to speech or music. He started talking about the tax code, but trailed off when he realized no one was listening. The music from the radio trailed off as the car got farther from the house. The company's innovative ideas gave birth to a huge range of devices, but seem to have started trailing off in recent years.
See also: off, trail
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

trail off

 and trail away
to fade away, as with speech, words, singing, etc. Her voice trailed off as she saw who was waiting at the door. Ken's words trailed away as he passed out.
See also: off, trail
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

trail off

v.
To become gradually fainter; dwindle: The writer's prolific output trailed off as the years went by.
See also: off, trail
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • trail away
  • tail off
  • tail away
  • peter out
  • tail down
  • gutter
  • gutter out
  • die away
  • waste away
  • nonbinary
References in periodicals archive
I'm just as content to trail off on thoughts of Menahan Street, an actual place that may or may not resemble my illusive image of a slow-moving Brooklyn block fragranced with early supper and cigars.
Menahan Street Band Make the Road by Walking (Daptone)
com was "basically just a personal site, a marketing site." And while he started to say something about fitness consulting, he let that trail off.
Some strategy
Gary Forrest, Scottish national downhill racing champion, is also building a black, or highest rating, 3km trail off the Deadwater route.
Ian is riding to the challenge
Tim Heney, CEO of the Thunder Bay Port Authority, aware of the cyclical nature of water levels in Lake Superior, says they are usually low in the spring, come up in the summer and then trail off again into the winter.
Shallow waters lighten loads: levels creating concern for shippers
But just as swiftly as this lurid setting draws the reader in, a series of introspective questions causes the narrative to trail off into vapid presentations of back story and pointless ponderings.
The Oregon Project
Cvijanovic's handling of flashe and house paint is competently affectless, and the fanciful nature of his central conceit allows for compelling variations of scale (without the usual points of reference, soda bottles and a roasted chicken become as large as cars, and lines of houses trail off in every direction).
Adam Cvijanovic: Bellwether
She is regularly compared to both Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall, but on her fourth album as a leader she reveals other influences as well, notably John Scofield (note her gritty, bluesy tone on "Swamp Thang") and perhaps even Bill Frisell (notice the way her notes trail off on the impressionistic "Two Brothers").
Sheryl Bailey 3
One of the best ways to see how effective native plants are is to take a hike on the Mountain to Sea trail off of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The right plant in the right place: explore native plant landscaping with gardener Betty Sharpless
Turning away from the lead element, Lt Col Quinn then flew radar trail off their wingman, Titan 14.
Aircrew safety: award of distinction
"The concern is, will this trail off, will business pick up?" said newspaper economist and consultant Miles E.
GOOD NEWS? WELL, SORT OF
Surprisingly healthy growth in private sector expenditure through the first three quarters of 2002 started to trail off late last year and healthy upward momentum is not likely to set in again until late 2003 or early 2004.
NEW ZEALAND'S PRIVATE SECTOR DEMAND SLIPS
The collection is something of a curate's egg and some of the essays, it must be said, seem to trail off into rather bizarre fields of modem learning.
The Language of Postcolonial Literatures. (New and Noteworthy)
The Broadway import opened last fall to near-ecstatic reviews and three or four months of good business, but was blanked at the Olivier Awards in February (despite nine nominations) and then watched business trail off.
Kiss `Kate' goodbye. (Not Hot Enough?)
Also from Wildlife Research Center, the Pro-Drag[TM] was designed to lay a scent trail off to the side of your own footsteps.
New Scent Produced
For northern hardwood forests, sample the Thomas Divide Trail off Newfound Gap Road and the Fork Ridge Trail off Clingman's Dome Road.
MOUNTAINS OF COLOR