Deplete

Deplete Deplete Deplete By Maeve Maddox A reader questions the following use of depleting: The following headline appeared in Jamaicas leading newspaper today: My Savings are depleting. What am I doing wrong? The reader suggests changing â€Å"My savings are depleting† to â€Å"My savings are being depleted.† Like the reader, I thought the headline sounded wrong. â€Å"Savings are being depleted† sounds more idiomatic to my ear than â€Å"savings are depleting,† but I would have changed deplete to a different verb entirely: â€Å"My savings are diminishing† or â€Å"My savings are running out.† Deplete is from the Latin verb deplere. The de- is a negative prefix added to the verb plere, â€Å"to fill.† Deplere is â€Å"to bring down or undo the fullness of, to empty out.† It can also mean, â€Å"to let blood.† The intransitive use of deplete in the sense of â€Å"running out† or â€Å"becoming exhausted† appears frequently in environmental contexts with subject words like supplies and resources: Groundwater  supplies are depleting  at rapid rates around the world. More water is being taken out than put back in by natural replenishment (recharge), and supplies are depleting  as a result. The worlds  resources are depleting  because of a population that is out of control.   Although frequent in officialese, this intransitive use sounds odd to me. More idiomatic is to follow deplete with an object, as in these examples: My husbands  lack of employment is  depleting our  lifes savings. That section [of a law] limits the production and consumption of a set of chemicals known to  deplete  the stratospheric ozone. Charter  schools  severely  deplete  the resources  available  to the existing public schools. The following examples would be improved by substituting diminishing or running out for depleting: This [dog] is currently in Chicago with a trainer getting evaluated and learning some more manners but that time is depleting and she is needing a home not the shelter to go back to. I found  my patience depleting  by the minute.   My health is failing and  my friends are depleting. Perhaps some writers or speakers choose deplete in an attempt to avoid a clichà ©, but sometimes a clichà © is less distracting than the unfamiliar use of a word. For example, time is usually said to â€Å"run out.† Patience â€Å"wears thin.† As one grows old, â€Å"friends pass away.† Sometimes deplete is the wrong choice entirely, as in this comment on a site about dental care: It seems my gums are  depleting. Deplete connotes an emptying out of an exhaustible quantity. Gums recede, but they don’t deplete. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Arrive To vs. Arrive At50 Types of Propaganda13 Theatrical Terms in Popular Usage