Declining

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.
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            He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his
            family.                               --Lady
                                                  Hutchinson.
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            Disdaining to decline,
            Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. --Byron.
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            The ground at length became broken and declined
            rapidly.                              --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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   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.
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            That empire must decline
            Whose chief support and sinews are of coin.
                                                  --Waller.
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            And presume to know . . .
            Who thrives, and who declines.        --Shak.
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   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.
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            Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. --Ps.
                                                  cxix. 157.
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   4. To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of
      accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle.
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declining \declining\ adj.
   1. decreasing; as, steadily declining incomes.

   Syn: down(prenominal).
        [WordNet 1.5]

   2. going from better to worse.

   Syn: deteriorating, failing, regressing, retrograde,
        retrogressive.
        [WordNet 1.5]

   3. becoming less or smaller; as, declining powers of body and
      mind. Opposite of {increasing}.

   Syn: eroding.
        [WordNet 1.5]

   4. drawing to an end; waning; as, his declining years.
      [prenominal]
      [WordNet 1.5]
    

146 Moby Thesaurus words for "declining":
      abjuration, abjurement, abnegation, aging, chucking, chucking out,
      collapsing, coming apart, contempt, contractive, contradiction,
      cracking, crumbling, decadent, deciduous, declension, declination,
      declinature, declined, declivate, declivitous, declivous,
      decreasing, decrescendo, decrescent, decurrent, degenerate,
      deliquescent, denial, deprivation, descendant, descending,
      despisal, despising, deteriorating, diminishing, diminuendo,
      dipping, disagreement, disallowance, disapproval, discard,
      disclaimer, disclamation, discounting, disintegrating, dismissal,
      disobedience, disownment, disregard, dissent, doting, down,
      down-reaching, downcoming, downfalling, downgoing, downgrade,
      downhill, downsinking, downward, draining, drooping, dropping,
      dwindling, dying, ebbing, effete, exception, exclusion, fading,
      failing, falling, flagging, fragmenting, getting on,
      going to pieces, growing old, holding back, ignoring, languishing,
      lessening, marcescent, nay, negation, negative, negative answer,
      nix, no, nonacceptance, nonapproval, noncompliance, nonconsent,
      nonconsideration, nonobservance, on the descendant,
      on the downgrade, on the wane, passing by, pining, plummeting,
      plunging, putting away, putting out, rebuff, recantation, receding,
      reductive, refusal, regressive, rejection, renouncement,
      repudiation, repulse, retention, retiring, retreating, retrograde,
      retrogressive, sagging, scouting, senescent, setting, shrinking,
      shriveling, sinking, sliding, slipping, slumping, spurning,
      submerging, subsiding, tabetic, throwing out, thumbs-down,
      tottering, tumbledown, turndown, turning out, unwillingness,
      waning, wasting, wilting, withering, withholding, worsening