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declining

   Also found in: Legal, Financial, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
de·cline  (d-kln)
v. de·clined, de·clin·ing, de·clines
v.intr.
1. To express polite refusal.
2.
a. To slope downward; descend.
b. To bend downward; droop.
3. To degrade or lower oneself; condescend.
4. To deteriorate gradually; fail.
5.
a. To sink, as the setting sun.
b. To draw to a gradual close; wane.
v.tr.
1. To refuse politely: I declined their offer of help. See Synonyms at refuse1.
2. To cause to slope or bend downward.
3. Grammar To inflect (a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective) for number and case.
n.
1. The process or result of declining, especially a gradual deterioration.
2. A downward movement.
3. The period when something approaches an end.
4. A downward slope; a declivity.
5. A disease that gradually weakens or wastes the body.

[Middle English declinen, from Old French decliner, from Latin dclnre, to turn away, bend downward, change the form of a word : d-, de- + -clnre, to lean, bend; see klei- in Indo-European roots.]

de·clina·ble adj.
de·cliner n.
Translations
declining [dɪˈklaɪnɪŋ] ADJ [industry] → en decadencia
declining interestpérdida f de interés
in my declining yearsen mis últimos años


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
She was tired and panting and evidently thought of declining, but immediately put her hand gaily on the man's shoulder, smiling at Prince Andrew.
Major Effingham, in declining the liberal offers of the British ministry, had subjected himself to the suspicion of having attained his dotage, by all those who throng the avenues to court patronage, even in the remotest corners of that vast empire; but, when he thus voluntarily stripped himself of his great personal wealth, the remainder of the community seemed instinctively to adopt the conclusion also that he had reached a second childhood.
Without absolutely declining to pay the money, the two offices
 
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