decline
//dɪˈklaɪn//
Forms
- Plural
- declines
- present (v1)
- decline
- past (v2)
- declined
- past participle (v3)
- declined
- present participle
- declining
- 3rd person singular
- declines
Definitions
1.Downward movement, fall.
- The aircraft went into a sudden decline before the pilot regained control.
2.A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.
- After taking a right from that turn a decline will come into view.
3.A deterioration of condition; a weakening or worsening.
- Educational standards are on the decline.
- The country's global reputation is in decline.
- He has experienced a sudden decline in his health.
4.A reduction or diminution of activity, prevalence or quantity.
- Population decline is a major concern.
- Town-centre retailers have seen a decline in footfall.
- "It knows it has to plan for managed decline, but it can't even plan for managed decline if it doesn't know how much decline to manage."
1.To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
- The dollar has declined rapidly since 2001.
2.To become weaker or worse.
- After her sother died, Connie began to decline noticeably.
- My health declined in winter.
3.To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
4.To cause to decrease or diminish.
- He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it.
- You have declin'd his means.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2199
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English declinen, and ultimately Latin declīnō (“to bend, turn aside, deflect, inflect, decline”, from dē- (“down”) + clīnō (“to bend, to incline”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean). The senses arrived from two separate pathways in Middle English: