Decline

De`cline´

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. [imp. & p. p. Declined ; p. pr. & vb. n. Declining.] 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.
v. t.	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. 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. 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.
n.	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.

Noun	1.	decline - change toward something smaller or lower Synonyms: diminution
	2.	decline - a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state Synonyms: declination Antonyms: melioration, improvement - a condition superior to an earlier condition; "the new school represents a great improvement"
	3.	decline - a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current Synonyms: decay
	4.	decline - a downward slope or bend Synonyms: declivity, downslope, declension, declination, fall, descent
Verb	1.	decline - grow worse; "Conditions in the slum worsened" Synonyms: worsen
	2.	decline - refuse to accept; "He refused my offer of hospitality" Synonyms: pass up, turn down, refuse, reject
	3.	decline - show unwillingness towards; "he declined to join the group on a hike" Synonyms: refuse
	4.	decline - grow smaller; "Interest in the project waned" Synonyms: wane, go down
	5.	decline - go down; "The roof declines here"
	6.	decline - go down in value; "the stock market corrected"; "prices slumped" Synonyms: slump, correct
	7.	decline - inflect for number, gender, case, etc., "in many languages, speakers decline nouns, pronouns, and adjectives"

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