decline

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
decline/dɪˈklʌɪn/
verb
  • 1 become smaller, fewer, or less; decrease.

    ■ diminish in strength or quality; deteriorate.

  • 2 politely refuse: the company declined to comment.
  • 3 (especially of the sun) move downwards.
  • 4 Grammar state the forms of (a noun, pronoun, or adjective) corresponding to cases, number, and gender.
noun
  • 1 a continuous loss of strength, numbers, or value.
  • 2 archaic a disease in which the bodily strength gradually fails, especially tuberculosis.
– derivatives
declinable adjective,
decliner noun,
declining adjective.
– origin ME: from OFr. decliner, from L. declinare ‘bend down, turn aside’, from de- ‘down’ + clinare ‘to bend’.
'decline' also found in these Oxford entries:

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