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decline Definition

de·cline (dē klīn′, di-)

intransitive verb declined -·clined′, declining -·clin′·ing

  1. to bend, turn, or slope downward or aside
    1. to sink, as the setting sun
    2. to approach the end; wane the day is declining
  3. to lessen in force, health, value, etc.; deteriorate; decay
  4. to descend to behavior that is base or immoral
  5. to refuse to accept or do something, esp. in a way that is formally polite

Etymology: ME declinen < OFr decliner, to bend, turn aside < L declinare, to bend from, inflect < de-, from (see de-) + clinare, to bend: see lean

transitive verb

  1. to cause to bend or slope downward or aside
  2. to refuse, esp. in a formally polite way I must decline your offer
  3. Gram. to inflect (a noun, pronoun, or adjective) systematically, giving its different forms according to case, number, and gender

noun

  1. a declining or becoming less, smaller, etc.; decay
  2. a failing of health, etc.
  3. a period of decline
  4. the last part the decline of life
  5. Archaic a wasting disease
  6. a downward slope

Related Forms:

decline Synonyms

decline

n.

deterioration, dissolution, lessening, slump; see decay 1, drop 2.

decline Synonyms

decline

v.

  1. To refuse

    reject, turn down, beg to be excused, send regrets; see refuse.

  2. To decrease

    diminish, wane, dwindle, fade; see decrease 1.

  3. To sink slowly

    descend, dip, droop, settle; see descend 1, lean 1, sink 1.

  4. To deteriorate

    fail, sink, degenerate, backslide; see decay, weaken 1. See syn. study at refuse.

decline Usage Examples

Object

  • cookie: You have the ability to accept or decline cookies.

Converse of object

  • reverse: They have reversed the previous decline in road deaths.
  • halt: Help to halt the decline in house sparrows by building the bird nesting box below.
  • suffer: For Hungary did not suffer the slow decline into the Final Solution, through a myriad stages of debasement.
  • accelerate: Corporations are, rightly, commonly held to be primarily responsible for humanity's accelerating decline into suicidal unsustainability.
  • offset: Growth in long-distance traffic offset a decline in the traditional cross-Channel market, tho Eurotunnel claimed it held its own against the ferry operators.
  • arrest: Rural Areas The Labor Government will take measures to arrest the decline in the quality of life in rural areas.

Adjective modifier

  • steady: Our once proud fishing fleet has been in steady decline over the years.
  • gradual: During the following thirty years, Govanites were to face a number of problems related to the gradual decline of its once-great industries.
  • sharp: There has been a sharp decline in the number of hours of coverage.
  • rapid: In the early nineteenth century, Spanish power went into rapid decline.
  • marked: Figures for West Europe show a marked decline in recent years.
  • steep: Confidence remains weak but it has not got any worse following the steep decline reported in September.

Noun used with modifier

  • fertility: Fertility declines, says the report, accounted for one fifth of the economic growth in East Asia between 1960 and 1995.
  • terminal: They said Conservatism in Wales was in terminal decline.
  • percent: Percent crush declines to film the session we might the only hands.
decline Quotes

   To preserve a trading state from decline, the greatest care must be taken, to support a perfect balance between the hands employed in work and the demand for their labour.

—Steuart (later Denham), SirJames

'The first ten million years were the worst,'said Marvin, 'and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline.'

—Adams, Douglas Noe«  l

It was at Rome, on the fifteenth of October1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the temple of Jupiter, that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the City first started to my mind.

—Gibbon, Edward