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decline

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decline


  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  decline 
  n  1:  change  toward  something  smaller  or  lower  [syn:  {diminution}] 
  2:  a  condition  inferior  to  an  earlier  condition  [ant:  {improvement}] 
  3:  a  gradual  decrease;  as  of  stored  charge  or  current  [syn:  {decay}] 
  4:  a  downward  slope  [syn:  {descent},  {declivity},  {fall},  {downslope}] 
  [ant:  {ascent}] 
  v  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  [syn:  {refuse}]  [ant:  {accept}] 
  4:  grow  smaller;  "Interest  in  the  project  waned"  [syn:  {go  down}, 
  {wane}] 
  5:  go  down 
  6:  of  nouns,  pronouns,  and  adjectives 




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