1. (v. i.) To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, etc.; to condescend.

2. (v. i.) 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.

3. (v. i.) To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw; as, a line that declines from straightness; conduct that declines from sound morals.

4. (v. i.) To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle.

5. (v. t.) To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.

6. (v. t.) To cause to decrease or diminish.

7. (v. t.) To put or turn aside; to turn off or away from; to refuse to undertake or comply with; reject; to shun; to avoid; as, to decline an offer; to decline a contest; he declined any participation with them.

8. (v. t.) To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of; as, to decline a noun or an adjective.

9. (v. t.) To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun.

10. (n.) A falling off; a tendency to a worse state; diminution or decay; deterioration; also, the period when a thing is tending toward extinction or a less perfect state; as, the decline of life; the decline of strength; the decline of virtue and religion.

11. (v. i.) That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever.

12. (n.) A gradual sinking and wasting away of the physical faculties; any wasting disease, esp. pulmonary consumption; as, to die of a decline.

abate abatement abjure ablate abstain abstain from age analyze anility arrear arrearage arrears ascend asking price avoid backslide backsliding balk bank bate be eaten away be found wanting be unmoved be unwilling bearish prices beat down beg off bid price boggle book value bracket break brush aside bullish prices bypass cadence caducity call price cant careen catabasis catenary cave cave in cessation cheapen cheapening cheat the undertaker childishness chuck chuck out climb close closing closing price collapse come apart come down come short come unstuck comedown conjugate conk out consume consume away contemn contradict corrode crash crumble cut cut prices debasement debility decadence decadency decay deceleration declension declination decline and fall decline to accept declivity decrease decrescendo decurrence defalcation default defectiveness deficit deflate deflation deformation degeneracy degenerate degenerateness degeneration degradation delinquency deliquesce demotion demur deny depravation depravedness depreciate depreciation depression derogation descend descent despise deteriorate deterioration devaluate devaluation devitalization devolution die die away diminish diminuendo diminution dip disagree disallow disapprove discard disclaim discount disdain disimprove disintegrate dismiss disown disregard dissent dive dodder dotage dotardism downfall downgate downgrade downhill downslide downswing downtrend downturn downward mobility downward trend drift away droop drop drop down drop off dwindle dwindling dying ebb ebbing effeteness erode except exclude face value fade fading fail failing failure failure of nerve faint fall fall away fall in price fall off fall short falling off falling short falling-off falloff fixed price fizzle out flag flash price flop flop down flump flump down flurry flutter forbear forgo forswear founder gainsay get along get on give out give way go go away go down go downhill go off go soft go to pieces go to pot go uphill grade grow old hang hanging have a comedown high hit a slump hit rock bottom hit the skids hold out against homestretch hyphenate ignore imperfection inadequacy incline inferiority inflect insufficiency involution issue par issue price jew down jib keel lack lag languish lapse last lap last round last stage lean lessen lessening let up list lose ground lose strength loss loss of tone low lower lowering