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-Barclays to wind down commodities trading. (from Financial Times, April 21st)
-Senate Bill seeks to wind down Fannie Mae in five years.(Bloomberg, March 17th)
Is the use of to wind down becoming more frequent also in less informal contexts? Plus, could this expression be used in a intransitive way?
wind down is used both as a transitive and an intransitive verb.
wind down
[intransitive/transitive] to end, or to finish something gradually
The party started to wind down around 2:00 a.m.
The U.N. has decided to wind down the peacekeeping mission.
a.
to gradually reduce work before stopping completely
The factory will wind down production before closing next year.
