decline

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA ^(key): /dəˈklɑɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: de‧cline

Verb

Plain form decline

Third-person singular declines

Past tense declined

Past participle declined

Present participle declining

1. (intransitive) If something declines, it goes down in number, quality, slope, or value.
   • Synonyms: decrease and reduce
   • Antonyms: incline and increase

   The Australian dollar has declined 3% against the Euro.

   The number of students studying foreign languages continues to decline.

2. (transitive & intransitive) If someone declines an offer, they do not accept it.

   We asked Josh to come with us to the restaurant, but he declined.

Noun

Singular decline

Plural declines

1. (countable) A decline happens when the number, quality, slope, or value of something goes down.
   • Synonyms: decrease and reduction
   • Antonyms: incline and increase

   There has been a 3% decline in the Australian dollar against the Euro.

   Every year we see a larger decline in the number of students studying foreign languages.

2. (countable) A decline is a hill or line that goes down.

   The truck crashed after picking up too much speed on the decline.