peter out
phrasal verb

- to gradually stop or disappear

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

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The earliest known use of "peter out" was in the U.S. mining industry in the 19th century. Before "out" was added to the expression, the word peter was used by itself in a similar context.

In the Milwaukee Daily Gazette newspaper, an article from 1845 quotes a miner lamenting about his lack of success in the mining trade:

"When my mineral petered why they all petered me. Now it is dig, dig, dig, drill, drill for nothing. My luck is clean gone - tapered down to nothing."

Although the evidence clearly points to mining as the origin, why the word peter was adopted in this sense is unknown. Like many etymological origins, there is a lot of conjecture and many theories and myths. One has to do with the French phrase "péter dans la main," literally meaning "to come to nothing." Others suggest links to the apostle Peter, but these ideas seem far-fetched.

A more likely origin is saltpetre, the common name for potassium nitrate, which is used in fireworks and explosives. It was also an ingredient in the gunpowder used by miners to create explosions and make fuses. It would be easy to imagine a miner lighting a fuse, watching as the flame died out before it could reach the explosive and then declaring, "That darn fuse just petered out on me."

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SYNONYMS

die out, dwindle, decrease, dissipate, evaporate, fade (out), fizzle (out)

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Practice OWAD in a conversation today, say something like:

"Ever since the bypass road was built, vehicle traffic in our neighbourhood has just PETERED OUT."