v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Declined p. pr. & vb. n. Declining. ] [ OE. declinen to bend down, lower, sink, decline (a noun), F. décliner 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family. Lady Hutchinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Disdaining to decline,
Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

That empire must decline
Whose chief support and sinews are of coin. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

And presume to know . . .
Who thrives, and who declines. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. Ps. cxix. 157. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall. [ 1913 Webster ]

In melancholy deep, with head declined. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

And now fair Phoebus gan decline in haste
His weary wagon to the western vale. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to decrease or diminish. [ Obs. ] “You have declined his means.” Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Could I
Decline this dreadful hour? Massinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Gram.) To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of; as, to decline a noun or an adjective. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Now restricted to such words as have case inflections; but formerly it was applied both to declension and conjugation. [ 1913 Webster ]

After the first declining of a noun and a verb. Ascham. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. déclin. See Decline, v. i. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their fathers lived in the decline of literature. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A gradual sinking and wasting away of the physical faculties; any wasting disease, esp. pulmonary consumption; 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. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Declinate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. He who declines or rejects. [ 1913 Webster ]

A studious decliner of honors. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]