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Verb: decline  di`klIn
  1. Grow worse
    - worsen
     
  2. Refuse to accept
    - refuse, reject, pass up, turn down
     
  3. Show unwillingness towards
    "he declined to join the group on a hike"
    - refuse
     
  4. Grow smaller
    - go down, wane
     
  5. Go down
    "The roof declines here"
     
  6. Go down in value
    - slump, correct
     
  7. Inflect for number, gender, case, etc., "in many languages, speakers decline nouns, pronouns, and adjectives"
Noun: decline  di`klIn
  1. Change toward something smaller or lower
    - diminution
     
  2. A condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state
    - declination
     
  3. A gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current
    - decay
     
  4. A downward slope or bend
    - descent, declivity, fall, declination, declension, downslope

Derived forms: declined, declining, declines

See also: declension, declination

Type of: change state, come down, condition, decrease, decrement, descend, diminish, drop, fall, go down, incline, inflect, lessen, react, respond, side, slope, status, turn

Antonym: improvement

Encyclopedia: Decline