decline
/dɪˈklaɪn/
Dictionary
noun
- Downward movement, fall.
- A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.
- A weakening.
- A reduction or diminution of activity.
- The act of declining or refusing something.
verb
- To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
"The dollar has declined rapidly since 2001."
- To become weaker or worse.
"My health declined in winter."
- To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
- To cause to decrease or diminish.
- To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.
"a line that declines from straightness"
- To refuse, forbear.
"On reflection I think I will decline your generous offer."
- (grammar, usually of substantives, adjectives and pronouns) To inflect for case, number and sometimes gender.
- (by extension) To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun.
- To reject a penalty against the opposing team, usually because the result of accepting it would benefit the non-penalized team less than the preceding play.
"The team chose to decline the fifteen-yard penalty because their receiver had caught the ball for a thirty-yard gain."
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