decline

Definitions

1. 1intransitive verb

   To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, etc.; to condescend.

2. 2intransitive verb

   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.

3. 3intransitive verb

   To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw; as, a line that declines from straightness; conduct that declines from sound morals.

4. 4intransitive verb

   To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle.

5. 5transitive verb

   To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.

6. 6transitive verb

   To cause to decrease or diminish.

7. 7transitive verb

   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.

8. 8transitive verb

   To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of; as, to decline a noun or an adjective.

9. 9transitive verb

   To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun.

10. 10intransitive verb

    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.

11. 11intransitive verb

    That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever.

12. 12intransitive verb

    A gradual sinking and wasting away of the physical faculties; any wasting disease, esp. pulmonary consumption; as, to die of a decline.

13. 13noun

    a downward slope or bend

    Synonyms

    declensiondeclinationdeclivitydescentdownslopefall
14. 14noun

    a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current

    Synonyms

    decay
15. 15noun

    change toward something smaller or lower

    Synonyms

    diminution
16. 16noun

    a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state

    Synonyms

    declination
17. 17verb

    grow worse

    "Conditions in the slum worsened"

    Synonyms

    worsen
18. 18verb

    grow smaller

    "Interest in the project waned"

    Synonyms

    wane
19. 19verb

    show unwillingness towards

    "he declined to join the group on a hike"

    Synonyms

    refuse
20. 20verb

    inflect for number, gender, case, etc., "in many languages, speakers decline nouns, pronouns, and adjectives"

21. 21verb

    go down in value

    "the stock market corrected"

    "prices slumped"

    Synonyms

    correctslump
22. 22verb

    go down

    "The roof declines here"

23. 23verb

    refuse to accept

    "He refused my offer of hospitality"

    Synonyms

    refusereject