| 释义 |
die-off, n.
Brit. |ˈdʌɪɒf|, U.S. |ˈdaɪˌɔf|, |ˈdaɪˌɑf|
[‹ to die off at die v.1 Phrasal verbs.]
1. A foot rot of the sweet potato. Now rare.
1918F. D. Heald in E. L. D. Seymour Farm Knowl. II. v. xxxiii. 497 (table) Sweet potato (Diseases)... Small brown to black spots on stem near soil line, finally girdling and extending up the stem, and causing wilting and death... Foot rot or die-off. 1925C. Chupp Man. Veg. Garden Dis. xvii. 500 Foot-rot or die-off was first recognized as a distinct disease in 1912 when Harter received specimens from Virginia. 1928Farmers' Bull. (U.S. Dept. Agric.) No. 1059. 8 (heading) Foot rot (die off).
2. An episode or period in which a significant proportion of a population dies naturally, usually within a short space of time; a process causing this. Also as a mass noun: death of a significant proportion of a population in this way. Also fig.
1930W. M. Raine & W. C. Barnes Cattle xi. 267 Ranch owners were forced by economic necessity to guarantee food for their stock, to furnish hay and shelter in bad weather. The great die-off during the winter of 1886–1887 pointed this out. 1938Amer. Midland Naturalist 20 575 These sudden outbreaks and die-offs of wild mice. 1976Westworld (Vancouver, Brit. Columbia) Nov.–Dec. 51/3 The same population pattern—explosive growth, then severe die-off—has repeated all across the continent because starlings cannot control their increase. 1991A. Nikiforuk Fourth Horseman i. 10 As soon as cities of a hundred thousand people began to appear, great die-offs became as common as thunder-storms. 2000Book Nov.–Dec. 16/3 If BookSense.com can pull in its own slice of that growth..it could help slow the die-off affecting independent stores nationwide. |