Link Centre Dictionary

decline

dec·line

UK/dɪˈklaɪn/ US/dɪˈklaɪn/ fairly common
verb (7) noun (4)

verb

1.

grow worse

  • “Conditions in the slum worsened”
Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

refuse to accept

  • “He refused my offer of hospitality”
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Antonyms
3.

show unwillingness towards

  • “he declined to join the group on a hike”
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Antonyms
4.

grow smaller

  • “Interest in the project waned”
Synonyms
5.

go down

  • “The roof declines here”
6.

go down in value

  • “the stock market corrected”
  • “prices slumped”
Synonyms
7.

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

noun

1.
2.

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

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Antonyms
3.

a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current

Synonyms
4.

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.

Phrases

  • acute oak decline
  • decline porn
  • oak decline
  • olive quick decline syndrome
  • Texas phoenix palm decline

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Broader terms

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Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.