Decline | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

De-clīne', v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [imp. & p. p. DECLINED; p. pr. & vb. n. DECLINING.] [Lat. declinare, from de and a supposed clinare, to lean, incline, Gr. κλίνειν; Fr. décliner, Pr., Sp., & Pg. declinar, It. declinare.]

Sense 1. To lean downward; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, &c.; to condescend.

He ... would decline even to the lowest of his family. Lady Hutchinson.

Disdaining to decline, slowly he falls. Byron.

Sense 2. To tend or draw towards a close, decay, or extinction; to tend to a less perfect state; to become diminished or impaired; to fall; to sink; to decay; as, the day declines; virtue declines; religion declines; business declines.

*That empire must decline Whose chief support and sinews are of coin.* Waller.

Sense 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.

Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. Ps. cxix. 157.

Sense 4. To turn away; to refuse; not to comply; not to do; as, he declined to take any part in the concern.

Sense 5. To tend; to incline. [Obs.]

That purple luster which it hath is not altogether fiery, but declineth in the end to the color of wine. Holland.

De-cline', v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. 1. To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bow or fall.

In melancholy deep, with head declined. Thomson.

Sense 2. To cause to decrease or diminish. [Obs.] “Being you have declined his means.” Bead. & Fl. He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it. Burton.

Sense 3. To put or turn aside; to turn off or away from; to refuse to undertake or comply with; to reject; to shun; to avoid; as, to decline an offer; to decline a contest; to decline the course of justice.

Could I Decline this dreadful hour. Massinger.

Sense 4. (Gram.) To inflect or rehearse in order in the changes of grammatical form; as, to decline a noun.

De-cline', n.

noun

n. [Fr. déclin, Pr. decli, It. declino, diclino. See supra.] 1. A falling off; a tendency to a worse state; diminution or decay; deterioration; as, the decline of life; the decline of strength; the decline of virtue and religion. Their fathers lived in the decline of literature. Swift. 2. (Med.) (a.) That period of a disorder when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever. (b.) A gradual sinking and wasting away of the physical faculties; as, to die of a decline. Dunglison. Syn.—DECLINE, DECAY, CONSUMPTION. Decline marks the first stage in a downward progress; decay indicates the second stage, and denotes a tendency to ultimate destruction; consumption marks a steady decay from an internal exhaustion of strength. The health may experience a decline from various causes at any period of life; it is naturally subject to decay with the advance of old age; consumption may take place at almost any period of life, from disease which wears out the constitution. By a gradual decline, states and communities lose their strength and vigor; by progressive decay, they are stripped of their honor, stability, and greatness; by a consumption of their resources and vital energy, they are led rapidly on to a completion of their existence.