de·cline /dɪˈklaɪn, di-/
衰微,跌落,下降(vt.)使降低,婉謝(vi.)下降,衰落,偏斜
de·cline /dɪˈklaɪn/ 不及物動詞
減退期
De·cline v. i. [imp. & p. p. Declined p. pr. & vb. n. Declining.]
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.”
He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family. --Lady Hutchinson.
Disdaining to decline,
Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. --Byron.
The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly. --Sir W. Scott.
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.
That empire must decline
Whose chief support and sinews are of coin. --Waller.
And presume to know . . .
Who thrives, and who declines. --Shak.
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.
4. To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle.
De·cline, v. t.
1. To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
In melancholy deep, with head declined. --Thomson.
And now fair Phoebus gan decline in haste
His weary wagon to the western vale. --Spenser.
2. To cause to decrease or diminish. [Obs.] “You have declined his means.”
He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it. --Burton.
3. 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.
Could I
Decline this dreadful hour? --Massinger.
4. Gram. To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of; as, to decline a noun or an adjective.
Note: ☞ Now restricted to such words as have case inflections; but formerly it was applied both to declension and conjugation.
After the first declining of a noun and a verb. --Ascham.
5. To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun. [R.]
De·cline n.
1. 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.
Their fathers lived in the decline of literature. --Swift.
2. Med. That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever.
3. A gradual sinking and wasting away of the physical faculties; any wasting disease, esp. pulmonary consumption; as, to die of a decline.
Syn: -- Decline, Decay, Consumption.
Usage: 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. In popular language decline is often used as synonymous with consumption. 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.
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decline
n 1: change toward something smaller or lower [syn: diminution]
2: a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual
falling off from a better state [syn: declination] [ant:
improvement]
3: a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current [syn: decay]
4: a downward slope or bend [syn: descent, declivity, fall,
declination, declension, downslope] [ant: ascent]
v 1: grow worse; "Conditions in the slum worsened" [syn: worsen]
[ant: better]
2: refuse to accept; "He refused my offer of hospitality" [syn:
refuse, reject, pass up, turn down] [ant: accept]
3: show unwillingness towards; "he declined to join the group
on a hike" [syn: refuse] [ant: accept]
4: grow smaller; "Interest in the project waned" [syn: go down,
wane]
5: go down; "The roof declines here"
6: go down in value; "the stock market corrected"; "prices
slumped" [syn: slump, correct]
7: inflect for number, gender, case, etc., "in many languages,
speakers decline nouns, pronouns, and adjectives"