Definition of "fade-out" [fade-out]

• A gradual disappearance of an image or sound, as in cinema, television, or radio. (noun)
• A gradual and temporary loss in reception of a radio or television signal, often generated by interference in transmission. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""A Last Request" -- This is more of a fade-out than a proper tune, a way to ease you out the door after that emotional finale."
• "But he's in a particularly bad way, and needs to rebound dramatically if he's not to face a fade-out as his best option, if he survives at all."
• "It seems like the sort of they-lived-happily-ever-after pairing you might find at the fade-out of a Hallmark Channel movie."