Ends by making a few small points and trails off, perhaps. (8)
I believe the answer is:
ellipsis
I'm afraid I can't even guess how this answer relates to the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ellipsis that I've seen before include "Omission of words (gram.)" , "dotty row" , "Omission of parts of words, in poetry say" , "Omission of words from speech or writing" , "Set of three dots in a text indicating an omission" .)