decline

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: recline, deline, decine, declive

Antonyms: recline, deline, decine, declive

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

1. {{sense|dynamically, of an event or occurrence}} [[downward|Downward]] [[movement]], [[fall]].
2. {{sense|statically, of a physical state}} A [[sloping]] [[downward]], e.g. of a hill or road.
3. {{senseid|en|weakening}}A [[deterioration]] of [[condition]]; a [[weakening]] or [[worsening]].
4. A [[reduction]] or [[diminution]] of [[activity]], [[prevalence]] or [[quantity]].
5. The act of declining or refusing something.

Verb

1. {{lb|en|intransitive}} To move [[downwards]], to [[fall]], to [[drop]].
2. {{lb|en|intransitive}} To become [[weak]]er or [[worse]].
3. {{lb|en|transitive}} To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
4. {{lb|en|transitive}} To cause to decrease or diminish.
5. To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.
6. {{lb|en|transitive}} To choose not to do something; [[refuse]], [[forbear]], [[refrain]].
7. {{senseid|en|grammar, apply inflection}} {{lb|en|transitive|grammar|usually of substantives, adjectives and pronouns}} To [[inflect]] for [[case]], [[number]], [[gender]], and the like.
8. {{senseid|en|grammar, recite declension}} {{lb|en|transitive|grammar}} To [[recite]] all the different declined forms of (a word): to recite its [[declension]].
9. {{lb|en|by extension}} To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
10. {{lb|en|American football|Canadian football}} 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.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.