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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Decline \De*cline"\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Declined}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Declining}.] [OE. declinen to bend down, lower, sink, decline (a noun), F. d['e]cliner to decline, refuse, fr. L. declinare to turn aside, inflect (a part of speech), avoid; de- + clinare to incline; akin to E. lean. See {Lean}, verb (used without an object)]
1. To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, etc.; to condescend. ''With declining head.'' --Shak.
He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family. --Lady Hutchinson.
Disdaining to decline, Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. --Byron.
The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly. --Sir W. Scott.
2. To tend or draw towards a close, decay, or extinction; to tend to a less perfect state; to become diminished or impaired; to fail; to sink; to diminish; to lessen; as, the day declines; virtue declines; religion declines; business declines.
That empire must decline Whose chief support and sinews are of coin. --Waller.
And presume to know . . . Who thrives, and who declines. --Shak.
3. To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw; as, a line that declines from straightness; conduct that declines from sound morals.
Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. --Ps. cxix. 157.
4. To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Decline \De*cline"\, noun [F. d['e]clin. See {Decline}, verb (used without an object)]
1. A falling off; a tendency to a worse state; diminution or decay; deterioration; also, the period when a thing is tending toward extinction or a less perfect state; as, the decline of life; the decline of strength; the decline of virtue and religion.
Their fathers lived in the decline of literature. --Swift.
2. (Med.) That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever.
3. A gradual sinking and wasting away of the physical faculties; any wasting disease, esp. pulmonary consumption; as, to die of a decline. --Dunglison.
Syn: {Decline}, {Decay}, {Consumption}.
Usage: Decline marks the first stage in a downward progress; decay indicates the second stage, and denotes a tendency to ultimate destruction; consumption marks a steady decay from an internal exhaustion of strength. The health may experience a decline from various causes at any period of life; it is naturally subject to decay with the advance of old age; consumption may take place at almost any period of life, from disease which wears out the constitution. In popular language decline is often used as synonymous with consumption. By a gradual decline, states and communities lose their strength and vigor; by progressive decay, they are stripped of their honor, stability, and greatness; by a consumption of their resources and vital energy, they are led rapidly on to a completion of their existence.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Decline \De*cline"\, verb (used with an object)
1. To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
In melancholy deep, with head declined. --Thomson.
And now fair Phoebus gan decline in haste His weary wagon to the western vale. --Spenser.
2. To cause to decrease or diminish. [Obs.] ''You have declined his means.'' --Beau. & Fl.
He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it. --Burton.
3. To put or turn aside; to turn off or away from; to refuse to undertake or comply with; reject; to shun; to avoid; as, to decline an offer; to decline a contest; he declined any participation with them.
Could I Decline this dreadful hour? --Massinger.
4. (Gram.) To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of; as, to decline a noun or an adjective.
Note: Now restricted to such words as have case inflections; but formerly it was applied both to declension and conjugation.
After the first declining of a noun and a verb. --Ascham.
5. To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun. [R.] --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
decline
noun
1: change toward something smaller or lower [syn: {diminution}]
2: a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state [syn: {declination}] [ant: {improvement}]
3: a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current [syn: {decay}]
4: a downward slope or bend [syn: {descent}, {declivity}, {fall}, {declination}, {declension}, {downslope}] [ant: {ascent}]
verb
1: grow worse; "Conditions in the slum worsened" [syn: {worsen}] [ant: {better}]
2: refuse to accept; "He refused my offer of hospitality" [syn: {refuse}, {reject}, {pass up}, {turn down}] [ant: {accept}]
3: show unwillingness towards; "he declined to join the group on a hike" [syn: {refuse}] [ant: {accept}]
4: grow smaller; "Interest in the project waned" [syn: {go down}, {wane}]
5: go down; "The roof declines here"
6: go down in value; "the stock market corrected"; "prices slumped" [syn: {slump}, {correct}]
7: inflect for number, gender, case, etc., "in many languages, speakers decline nouns, pronouns, and adjectives"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
445 Moby Thesaurus words for "decline": abate, abatement, abjure, ablate, abstain, abstain from, age, analyze, anility, arrear, arrearage, arrears, ascend, asking price, avoid, backslide, backsliding, balk, bank, bate, be eaten away, be found wanting, be unmoved, be unwilling, bearish prices, beat down, beg off, bid price, boggle, book value, bracket, break, brush aside, bullish prices, bypass, cadence, caducity, call price, cant, careen, catabasis, catenary, cave, cave in, cessation, cheapen, cheapening, cheat the undertaker, childishness, chuck, chuck out, climb, close, closing, closing price, collapse, come apart, come down, come short, come unstuck, comedown, conjugate, conk out, consume, consume away, contemn, contradict, corrode, crash, crumble, cut, cut prices, debasement, debility, decadence, decadency, decay, deceleration, declension, declination, decline and fall, decline to accept, declivity, decrease, decrescendo, decurrence, defalcation, default, defectiveness, deficit, deflate, deflation, deformation, degeneracy, degenerate, degenerateness, degeneration, degradation, delinquency, deliquesce, demotion, demur, deny, depravation, depravedness, depreciate, depreciation, depression, derogation, descend, descent, despise, deteriorate, deterioration, devaluate, devaluation, devitalization, devolution, die, die away, diminish, diminuendo, diminution, dip, disagree, disallow, disapprove, discard, disclaim, discount, disdain, disimprove, disintegrate, dismiss, disown, disregard, dissent, dive, dodder, dotage, dotardism, downfall, downgate, downgrade, downhill, downslide, downswing, downtrend, downturn, downward mobility, downward trend, drift away, droop, drop, drop down, drop off, dwindle, dwindling, dying, ebb, ebbing, effeteness, erode, except, exclude, face value, fade, fading, fail, failing, failure, failure of nerve, faint, fall, fall away, fall in price, fall off, fall short, falling off, falling short, falling-off, falloff, fixed price, fizzle out, flag, flash price, flop, flop down, flump, flump down, flurry, flutter, forbear, forgo, forswear, founder, gainsay, get along, get on, give out, give way, go, go away, go down, go downhill, go off, go soft, go to pieces, go to pot, go uphill, grade, grow old, hang, hanging, have a comedown, high, hit a slump, hit rock bottom, hit the skids, hold out against, homestretch, hyphenate, ignore, imperfection, inadequacy, incline, inferiority, inflect, insufficiency, involution, issue par, issue price, jew down, jib, keel, lack, lag, languish, lapse, last lap, last round, last stage, lean, lessen, lessening, let up, list, lose ground, lose strength, loss, loss of tone, low, lower, lowering, mark, mark down, markdown, market price, market value, melt away, move away, move off, negate, negative, nominal value, nose dive, nose-dive, not answer, not buy, not consent, not hack it, not hear of, not make it, not make out, not measure up, not stretch, not suffice, not think of, offering price, opening price, par, par value, pare, parenthesize, parity, parse, pass by, pass up, peak, peg out, peter out, pine, pitch, plop, plop down, plummet, plummeting, plump, plunge, point, poop out, price, price cut, price fall, price reduction, pull away, punctuate, push aside, put price, quotation, quoted price, rake, rally, reach the depths, rebuff, recant, recede, reduce, reduction, refrain, refuse, refuse consent, refuse to consider, regression, reject, relapse, remission, renounce, repel, reprobate, repudiate, repulse, resist entreaty, resist persuasion, retire, retreat, retrocede, retrocession, retrogradation, retrograde, retrogression, return, revert, rise, rot, run down, run low, run short, sag, say nay, say no, scout, scruple, second childhood, senectitude, senile debility, senile dementia, senile psychosis, senile weakness, senilism, senility, set, settle, settle down, settling price, shake, shave, shelve, short measure, shortage, shortcoming, shortfall, shove away, shrink, shrivel, shy, sidle, sink, sink down, sinkage, slant, slash, slide, slip, slippage, slope, slouch, slowdown, slump, slump down, spurn, stand aloof, stand off, stated value, stick, stickle, stop short, submerge, submergence, subside, subsidence, swag, sway, swings, tail off, taper off, throw away, throw out, tilt, tip, totter, touch bottom, trim, turn away, turn down, turn gray, turn out, turn white, underage, uprise, veto, vote nay, vote negatively, waive, wane, waning, want, waste, waste away, weaken, weakening, weakness, wear, wear away, wear thin, widen the distance, wilt, withdraw, wither, wither away, wizen, worsen, worsening, wrinkle, yield
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