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declining

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declining


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Decline  \De*cline"\,  v.  i.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Declined};  p.  pr  & 
  vb  n.  {Declining}.]  [OE.  declinen  to  bend  down  lower,  sink, 
  decline  (a  noun),  F.  d['e]cliner  to  decline  refuse,  fr  L. 
  declinare  to  turn  aside,  inflect  (a  part  of  speech),  avoid; 
  de-  +  clinare  to  incline;  akin  to  E.  lean.  See  {Lean},  v.  i.] 
  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.'' 
  --Shak. 
 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  declining 
  adj  1:  becoming  progressively  lower;  "steadily  declining  incomes"; 
  "the  down  trend  in  the  real  estate  market"  [syn:  {down(a)}] 
  2:  going  from  better  to  worse  [syn:  {deteriorating},  {failing}, 
  {regressing},  {retrograde},  {retrogressive}] 
  3:  growing  weaker;  "declining  powers  of  body  and  mind" 
  4:  drawing  to  an  end  "his  declining  years"  [syn:  {declining(a)}] 




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