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decline - 9 dictionary results

de⋅cline

  [di-klahyn] verb, -clined, -clin⋅ing, noun
Use decline in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to withhold or deny consent to do, enter into or upon, etc.; refuse: He declined to say more about it.
2. to express inability or reluctance to accept; refuse with courtesy: to decline an invitation; to decline an offer.
3. to cause to slope or incline downward.
4. Grammar.
a. to inflect (a noun, pronoun, or adjective), as Latin puella, declined puella, puellae, puellae, puellam, puella in the five cases of the singular.
b. to recite or display all or some subset of the inflected forms of a noun, pronoun, or adjective in a fixed order.
–verb (used without object)
5. to express courteous refusal; refuse: We sent him an invitation but he declined.
6. to bend or slant down; slope downward; descend: The hill declines to the lake.
7. (of pathways, routes, objects, etc.) to follow a downward course or path: The sun declined in the skies.
8. to draw toward the close, as the day.
9. to fail in strength, vigor, character, value, etc.; deteriorate.
10. to fail or dwindle; sink or fade away: to decline in popularity.
11. to descend, as to an unworthy level; stoop.
12. Grammar. to be characterized by declension.
–noun
13. a downward slope; declivity.
14. a downward movement, as of prices or population; diminution: a decline in the stock market.
15. a failing or gradual loss, as in strength, character, power, or value; deterioration: the decline of the Roman Empire.
16. a gradual deterioration of the physical powers, as in later life or in disease: After his seventieth birthday he went into a decline.
17. progress downward or toward the close, as of the sun or the day.
18. the later years or last part: He became an editor in the decline of his life.
Origin:
1275–1325; (v.) ME declinen < OF: to inflect, turn aside, sink < L dēclīnāre to slope, incline, bend; cf. Gk klnein to lean 1 ; (n.) ME declin < OF, deriv. of decliner

Related forms:
de⋅clin⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. reject. See refuse 1 . 9. degenerate, decay, weaken, diminish, languish. 13. hill. 15. retrogression, degeneration, enfeeblement, weakening.

Antonyms:
6. rise. 9. improve.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To decline
de·cline   (dĭ-klīn')   
v.   de·clined, de·clin·ing, de·clines

v.   intr.
  1. To express polite refusal.
    1. To slope downward; descend.
    2. To bend downward; droop.
    3. To sink, as the setting sun.
    4. To draw to a gradual close; wane.
  3. To degrade or lower oneself; condescend.
  4. To deteriorate gradually; fail.
    1. To sink, as the setting sun.
    2. To draw to a gradual close; wane.
v.   tr.
  1. To refuse politely: I declined their offer of help. See Synonyms at refuse1.
  2. To cause to slope or bend downward.
  3. Grammar To inflect (a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective) for number and case.
n.  
  1. The process or result of declining, especially a gradual deterioration.
  2. A downward movement.
  3. The period when something approaches an end.
  4. A downward slope; a declivity.
  5. A disease that gradually weakens or wastes the body.

[Middle English declinen, from Old French decliner, from Latin dēclīnāre, to turn away, bend downward, change the form of a word : dē-, de- + -clīnāre, to lean, bend; see klei- in Indo-European roots.]
de·clin'a·ble adj., de·clin'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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.

Decline

De*cline"\, 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. [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.

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.

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : decline
Spanish: rehusar, rechazar,
German: ablehnen,
Japanese: 断わる
More Translations »

decline 
c.1327, "to turn aside, deviate," from O.Fr. decliner "to bend, turn aside," from L. declinare "to bend from, inflect," from de- "from" + clinare "to bend," from PIE *klei-n-, suffixed form of *klei "to lean" (see lean (v.)). Sense has been altered since 15c. by interpretation of de- as "downward." Meaning "not to consent" is from 1631. Astronomical declination (c.1386) and grammatical declension (1565) are both ult. from L. noun derivative declinatio.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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decline

A decrease in the price of a security.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Main Entry: 1de·cline
Pronunciation: di-'klIn
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Forms: de·clined;de·clin·ing
: to tend toward an impaired state or a weaker condition

Main Entry: 2decline
Function: noun
1 : the process of declining; especially : a gradual physical or mental sinking and wasting away
2 : the period during which the end of life is approaching
3 : a wasting disease; especially : pulmonary tuberculosis
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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