2 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 WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
declining
adj 1: becoming progressively lower; "steadily declining incomes";
"the down trend in the real estate market" [syn: {down(a)}]
2: going from better to worse [syn: {deteriorating}, {failing},
{regressing}, {retrograde}, {retrogressive}]
3: growing weaker; "declining powers of body and mind"
4: drawing to an end "his declining years" [syn: {declining(a)}]
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