'Decline' definitions:

Definition of 'decline'

From: WordNet
noun
Change toward something smaller or lower [syn: decline, diminution]
noun
A condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state [syn: decline, declination] [ant: improvement, melioration]
noun
A gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current [syn: decay, decline]
noun
A downward slope or bend [syn: descent, declivity, fall, decline, declination, declension, downslope] [ant: acclivity, ascent, climb, raise, rise, upgrade]
verb
Grow worse; "Conditions in the slum worsened" [syn: worsen, decline] [ant: ameliorate, better, improve, meliorate]
verb
Refuse to accept; "He refused my offer of hospitality" [syn: refuse, reject, pass up, turn down, decline] [ant: accept, have, take]
verb
Show unwillingness towards; "he declined to join the group on a hike" [syn: refuse, decline] [ant: accept, consent, go for]
verb
Grow smaller; "Interest in the project waned" [syn: decline, go down, wane]
verb
Go down; "The roof declines here"
verb
Go down in value; "the stock market corrected"; "prices slumped" [syn: decline, slump, correct]
verb
Inflect for number, gender, case, etc., "in many languages, speakers decline nouns, pronouns, and adjectives"

Definition of 'Decline'

From: GCIDE
  • Decline \De*cline"\, v. i. [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, v. i.]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family. --Lady Hutchinson. [1913 Webster]
  • Disdaining to decline, Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. --Byron. [1913 Webster]
  • The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • That empire must decline Whose chief support and sinews are of coin. --Waller. [1913 Webster]
  • And presume to know . . . Who thrives, and who declines. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. --Ps. cxix. 157. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Decline'

From: GCIDE
  • Decline \De*cline"\, v. t.
  • 1. To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall. [1913 Webster]
  • In melancholy deep, with head declined. --Thomson. [1913 Webster]
  • And now fair Phoebus gan decline in haste His weary wagon to the western vale. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To cause to decrease or diminish. [Obs.] "You have declined his means." --Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster]
  • He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it. --Burton. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Could I Decline this dreadful hour? --Massinger. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Gram.) To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of; as, to decline a noun or an adjective. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Now restricted to such words as have case inflections; but formerly it was applied both to declension and conjugation. [1913 Webster]
  • After the first declining of a noun and a verb. --Ascham. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun. [R.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Decline'

From: GCIDE
  • Decline \De*cline"\, n. [F. d['e]clin. See Decline, v. i.]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Their fathers lived in the decline of literature. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Med.) That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'decline'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Decline'