decline

Downward movement, fall.

Noun

  1. Downward movement, fall.
    • The aircraft went into a sudden decline before the pilot regained control.

    Synonyms: descent

  2. A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.
    • After taking a right from that turn a decline will come into view.
  3. A deterioration of condition; a weakening or worsening.
    • He has experienced a sudden decline in his health.
    • Educational standards are on the decline.
    • The country's global reputation is in decline.

    Synonyms: descent

  4. A reduction or diminution of activity, prevalence or quantity.
    • Population decline is a major concern.
    • Town-centre retailers have seen a decline in footfall.
    • It is also pertinent to note that the current obvious decline in work on holarctic hepatics most surely reflects a current obsession with cataloging and with nomenclature of the organisms—as divorced from their study as...
  5. The act of declining or refusing something.
    • The issuing bank only checks the consumer's credit card number for authorization. […] Soft declines are those declines in which the bank requires further verification. - 2004, David A. Montague, Fraud Prevention...

Origin

From Middle English declinen, and ultimately Latin declīnō (“to bend, turn aside, deflect, inflect, decline”, from dē- (“down”) + clīnō (“to bend, to incline”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean). The senses arrived from two separate pathways in Middle English: * The grammatical sense came from Old English declīnian, which was borrowed directly from the Latin etymon. * All senses except the grammatical sense were derived from those of Old French decliner. Old French itself borrowed the verb from Latin.

Forms

declines

Antonyms

incline

Derived

acute oak decline declinal declinarian decline porn declinism declinist declinometer oak decline olive quick decline syndrome

Verb

  1. To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
    • The dollar has declined rapidly since 2001.
  2. To become weaker or worse.
    • My health declined in winter.
    • After her sother died, Connie began to decline noticeably. - 1982 February 13, Nancy Walker, “Connie”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 29, page 10:
    • Will this decision-making paralysis continue until Great British Railways has been established and settled into a new rhythm? If so, passengers on the West of England line are in for a rough ride, as the reliability of...
  3. To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
    • in melancholy site, with head declined - a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:
    • And now faire Phoebus gan decline in hast / His weary wagon to the Westerne vale. - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 10:
  4. To cause to decrease or diminish.
    • You have declin'd his means. - 1612–1613, Nathan Field, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Honest Mans Fortune”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […],...
    • He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it. - 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for...
  5. To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.
    • a line that declines from straightness
    • conduct that declines from sound morals
    • Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 99:157:
  6. To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain.
    • Could I decline this dreadful hour? - 1626, Philip Massinger, The Roman Actor:
    • “[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying...
    • On reflection I think I will decline your generous offer.
  7. To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like.

    Synonyms: declense

  8. To recite all the different declined forms of (a word): to recite its declension.
    • after the first declining of a noun and a verb - 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, 1st edition:

    Synonyms: declense

  9. To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
    • Decline all this, and see what now thou art. For happy wife, a most distressed widow; For joyful mother, one that wails the name; For one being sued to, one that humbly sues; For queen , a very caitiff crown'd with...
  10. To reject a penalty against the opposing team, usually because the result of accepting it would benefit the non-penalized team less than the preceding play.
    • The team chose to decline the fifteen-yard penalty because their receiver had caught the ball for a thirty-yard gain.

Forms

declines declining declined no-table-tags glossary decline declinest declinedst declineth -

Related

climate cline declivity incline recline

Derived

declension declinability declinable declination decliningly redecline Texas phoenix palm decline undeclined undeclining