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The Meaning of decline
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(v. i.) To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, etc.; to condescend.
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(v. i.) 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.
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(v. i.) To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw; as, a line that declines from straightness; conduct that declines from sound morals.
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(v. i.) To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle.
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(v. t.) To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
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(v. t.) To cause to decrease or diminish.
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(v. t.) 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.
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(v. t.) To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of; as, to decline a noun or an adjective.
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(v. t.) To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun.
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(v. i.) 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.
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(v. i.) That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever.
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(v. i.) A gradual sinking and wasting away of the physical faculties; any wasting disease, esp. pulmonary consumption; as, to die of a decline.
Synonyms
fall
,
decay
,
downslope
,
descent
,
declension
,
declivity
,
decrease
,
step-down
,
reduction
,
declination
,
diminution
,
dec
,
celestial latitude
,
regrets
,
disintegration
,
radioactive decay
,
decomposition
,
extraction
,
pin
,
stemma
,
crepuscule
,
parentage
,
dip
,
pedigree
,
gloam
,
bloodline
,
twilight
,
decline in quality
,
spill
,
gloaming
,
tumble
,
surrender
,
worsening
,
lineage
,
filiation
,
autumn
,
stock
,
deterioration
,
evenfall
,
origin
,
line
,
line of descent
,
downfall
,
drop
,
crepuscle
,
nightfall
,
dusk
,
free fall
,
ancestry
,
blood
,
blood line
,
capitulation
,
wane
,
reject
,
refuse
,
exasperate
,
pass up
,
turn down
,
aggravate
,
slump
,
worsen
,
go down
,
correct
,
exacerbate
,
freeze off
,
rule out
,
deny
,
resist
,
winnow out
,
lower
,
lour
,
spurn
,
pooh-pooh
,
disapprove
,
disdain
,
scorn
,
defy
,
turn away
,
eliminate
,
come down
,
set
,
go under
,
settle
,
sink
,
descend
,
crash
,
right
,
even out
,
chasten
,
adjust
,
slouch
,
objurgate
,
discipline
,
redress
,
rectify
,
even up
,
slide down
,
counterbalance
,
chastise
,
compensate
,
sort out
,
even off
,
fall off
,
make up
,
castigate
,
abate
,
ebb
,
mitigate
,
reduce
,
lessen
,
moderate
,
subside
,
diminish
,
change state
,
turn
Antonyms
extend
,
magnify
,
revive
,
develop
,
rage
,
amplify
,
enlarge
,
increase
,
raise
,
continue
,
melioration
,
improvement
,
aggravate
,
enhance
,
foment
Rhymes
adeline
,
aerodyne
,
affine
,
airline
,
alamein
,
align
,
aline
,
alkaline
,
alpine
,
arline
,
arlyne
,
asinine
,
assign
,
australopithecine
,
ballantine
,
barentine
,
baseline
,
benign
,
bloodline
,
borderline
,
bornstein
,
bovine
,
brandywine
,
brine
,
brookline
,
bryne
,
burdine
,
byline
,
byzantine
,
calamine
,
canine
,
capitoline
,
carbine
,
caroline
,
celandine
,
chine
,
clementine
,
cline
,
clozapine
,
clyne
,
coastline
,
columbine
,
combine
,
concubine
,
confine
,
constantine
,
crine
,
crystalline
,
dateline
,
deadline
,
define
,
design
,
devine
,
dewine
,
dhein
,
dine
,
disincline
,
divine
,
dopamine
,
dragline
,
dwine
,
earthshine
,
eglantine
,
ein
,
emeline
,
emlynne
,
emmeline
,
endocrine
,
enshrine
,
entwine
,
epstein
,
equine
,
erskine
,
evangeline
,
fein
,
feinstein
,
feline
,
feyen
,
fine
,
francyne
,
frankenstein
,
genuine
,
gourdine
,
grapevine
,
guideline
,
guynn
,
gwine
,
hainline
,
hairline
,
hammerstein
,
headline
,
hein
,
heine
,
hemline
,
heterodyne
,
heyen
,
hine
,
hornstein
,
hot-line
,
huynh
,
ice-nine
,
incline
,
intertwine
,
iodine
,
jacobine
,
jain
,
karoline
,
klein
,
kline
,
kyne
,
leontine
,
lichtenstein
,
liechtenstein
,
lifeline
,
limine
,
line
,
lupine
,
lyne
,
lysne
,
macalpine
,
mainline
,
malign
,
mcalpine
,
microdyne
,
midline
,
mine
,
missildine
,
moonshine
,
nadein
,
nine
,
online
,
opine
,
outline
,
outshine
,
palatine
,
palestine
,
pine
,
pipeline
,
porcupine
,
prine
,
pruyn
,
pyne
,
quinine
,
rankine
,
realign
,
reassign
,
recline
,
recombine
,
redefine
,
redesign
,
refine
,
resign
,
rhine
,
rhyne
,
rine
,
rubinstein
,
saccharine
,
schein
,
schlein
,
sein
,
serpentine
,
sharp-sign
,
shein
,
shine
,
shoeshine
,
shrine
,
sideline
,
sign
,
silverstein
,
sine
,
skyline
,
spine
,
spline
,
stein
,
stine
,
storyline
,
streamline
,
strine
,
strychnine
,
styne
,
sunshine
,
superheterodyne
,
supine
,
swine
,
thein
,
thine
,
timberline
,
tine
,
trine
,
turpentine
,
twine
,
tyne
,
underline
,
undermine
,
valentine
,
vandine
,
vanduyn
,
vanduyne
,
vine
,
waistline
,
wallenstein
,
whine
,
wine
,
wyne
,
zine