The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Decline \De*cline"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Declined; p. pr. &
vb. n. Declining.] [OE. declinen to bend down, lower, sink,
decline (a noun), F. d['e]cliner to decline, refuse, fr. L.
declinare to turn aside, inflect (a part of speech), avoid;
de- + clinare to incline; akin to E. lean. See Lean, v. i.]
1. To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction;
to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness,
despondency, etc.; to condescend. "With declining head."
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his
family. --Lady
Hutchinson.
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Disdaining to decline,
Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. --Byron.
[1913 Webster]
The ground at length became broken and declined
rapidly. --Sir W.
Scott.
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2. 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.
[1913 Webster]
That empire must decline
Whose chief support and sinews are of coin.
--Waller.
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And presume to know . . .
Who thrives, and who declines. --Shak.
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3. To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw;
as, a line that declines from straightness; conduct that
declines from sound morals.
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Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. --Ps.
cxix. 157.
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4. To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of
accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
declining \declining\ adj.
1. decreasing; as, steadily declining incomes.
Syn: down(prenominal).
[WordNet 1.5]
2. going from better to worse.
Syn: deteriorating, failing, regressing, retrograde,
retrogressive.
[WordNet 1.5]
3. becoming less or smaller; as, declining powers of body and
mind. Opposite of increasing.
Syn: eroding.
[WordNet 1.5]
4. drawing to an end; waning; as, his declining years.
[prenominal]
[WordNet 1.5]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
146 Moby Thesaurus words for "declining":
abjuration, abjurement, abnegation, aging, chucking, chucking out,
collapsing, coming apart, contempt, contractive, contradiction,
cracking, crumbling, decadent, deciduous, declension, declination,
declinature, declined, declivate, declivitous, declivous,
decreasing, decrescendo, decrescent, decurrent, degenerate,
deliquescent, denial, deprivation, descendant, descending,
despisal, despising, deteriorating, diminishing, diminuendo,
dipping, disagreement, disallowance, disapproval, discard,
disclaimer, disclamation, discounting, disintegrating, dismissal,
disobedience, disownment, disregard, dissent, doting, down,
down-reaching, downcoming, downfalling, downgoing, downgrade,
downhill, downsinking, downward, draining, drooping, dropping,
dwindling, dying, ebbing, effete, exception, exclusion, fading,
failing, falling, flagging, fragmenting, getting on,
going to pieces, growing old, holding back, ignoring, languishing,
lessening, marcescent, nay, negation, negative, negative answer,
nix, no, nonacceptance, nonapproval, noncompliance, nonconsent,
nonconsideration, nonobservance, on the descendant,
on the downgrade, on the wane, passing by, pining, plummeting,
plunging, putting away, putting out, rebuff, recantation, receding,
reductive, refusal, regressive, rejection, renouncement,
repudiation, repulse, retention, retiring, retreating, retrograde,
retrogressive, sagging, scouting, senescent, setting, shrinking,
shriveling, sinking, sliding, slipping, slumping, spurning,
submerging, subsiding, tabetic, throwing out, thumbs-down,
tottering, tumbledown, turndown, turning out, unwillingness,
waning, wasting, wilting, withering, withholding, worsening