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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]:
declining \declining\ adjective
1. decreasing; as, steadily declining incomes.
Syn: down(prenominal). [WordNet 1.5]
2. going from better to worse.
Syn: deteriorating, failing, regressing, retrograde, retrogressive. [WordNet 1.5]
3. becoming less or smaller; as, declining powers of body and mind. Opposite of {increasing}.
Syn: eroding. [WordNet 1.5]
4. drawing to an end; waning; as, his declining years. [prenominal] [WordNet 1.5]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
146 Moby Thesaurus words for "declining": abjuration, abjurement, abnegation, aging, chucking, chucking out, collapsing, coming apart, contempt, contractive, contradiction, cracking, crumbling, decadent, deciduous, declension, declination, declinature, declined, declivate, declivitous, declivous, decreasing, decrescendo, decrescent, decurrent, degenerate, deliquescent, denial, deprivation, descendant, descending, despisal, despising, deteriorating, diminishing, diminuendo, dipping, disagreement, disallowance, disapproval, discard, disclaimer, disclamation, discounting, disintegrating, dismissal, disobedience, disownment, disregard, dissent, doting, down, down-reaching, downcoming, downfalling, downgoing, downgrade, downhill, downsinking, downward, draining, drooping, dropping, dwindling, dying, ebbing, effete, exception, exclusion, fading, failing, falling, flagging, fragmenting, getting on, going to pieces, growing old, holding back, ignoring, languishing, lessening, marcescent, nay, negation, negative, negative answer, nix, no, nonacceptance, nonapproval, noncompliance, nonconsent, nonconsideration, nonobservance, on the descendant, on the downgrade, on the wane, passing by, pining, plummeting, plunging, putting away, putting out, rebuff, recantation, receding, reductive, refusal, regressive, rejection, renouncement, repudiation, repulse, retention, retiring, retreating, retrograde, retrogressive, sagging, scouting, senescent, setting, shrinking, shriveling, sinking, sliding, slipping, slumping, spurning, submerging, subsiding, tabetic, throwing out, thumbs-down, tottering, tumbledown, turndown, turning out, unwillingness, waning, wasting, wilting, withering, withholding, worsening
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