thin sth out
Meaning(s)
1. reduce something in number or size
Popularity
Medium
Professional
Medium
Social
How to Memorize
thin out the options/crowd
Analysis
To 'thin something out' means to reduce something or to make a group of things fewer in number. You might 'thin something out' by cutting down, reducing, trimming back, trimming down or cutting back something. You can 'thin out' soup for example by adding milk or water, in order to feed more people. You could 'thin out' hair or a plant that has been growing thickly. If you 'thin yourself out' you are spreading yourself broadly over a number of different tasks instead of concentrating on one task.
Social Examples (Basic)
- At the end of the match, it was very congested around the stadium, so the police began thinning out the crowd.
- Could you thin out my hair at the back? It's very thick and difficult to manage.
Professional Examples (Basic)
- Due to the recession, we have had to thin out our workforce and downsize across the board.
- I prefer to focus on one task at a time and complete it properly rather than thining myself out and trying to do a number of things at once.
Professional Examples (Advance)
- There are many different ways of advertising a new product, but our budget limitations thinned out the options available to us quite considerably.