decline

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Downward movement, fall.

   • The aircraft went into a sudden decline before the pilot regained control.
2. 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. 3

   A deterioration of condition

   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.
4. ›+ 12 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 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 living entities.
   2. 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.
   3. 6

      To move downwards, to fall, to drop.

      • The dollar has declined rapidly since 2001.
   4. 7

      To become weaker or worse.

      • My health declined in winter.
      • After her sother died, Connie began to decline noticeably.
   5. 8

      To bend downward

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

      • in melancholy site, with head declined
      • And now faire Phoebus gan decline in hast / His weary wagon to the Westerne vale.
   6. 9

      To cause to decrease or diminish.

      • You have declin'd his means.
      • He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it.
   7. 10

      To turn or bend aside

      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.
   8. 11

      To choose not to do something

      To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain.

      • Could I decline this dreadful hour?
      • On reflection I think I will decline your generous offer.
   9. 12

      To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like.

   10. 13

       To recite all the different declined forms of (a word)

       To recite all the different declined forms of (a word): to recite its declension.

       • after the first declining of a noun and a verb
   11. 14

       To run through from first to last

       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 care[…]
   12. 15

       To reject a penalty against the opposing team, usually because the result of accepting it…

       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.

The neighborhood

• antonymincline
• neighborclimate
• neighborcline
• neighbordeclivity
• neighborincline
• neighborrecline