Decline



GRE 考研

解释

GRE 红宝书

• v. 拒绝; 变弱, 变小 n.消减

Webster Collegiate

I. verb (declined; declining)

• Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French decliner, from Latin declinare to turn aside, inflect, from de- + clinare to incline — more at lean
• Date: 14th century
• intransitive verb
  • 1. archaic to turn from a straight course ; stray
  • 2.
    • a. to slope downward ; descend
    • b. to bend down ; droop
    • c. to stoop to what is unworthy
  • 3.
    • a. of a celestial body to sink toward setting
    • b. to draw toward a close ; wane <the day declined>
  • 4. to tend toward an inferior state or weaker condition <his health declined><morale declined>
  • 5. to withhold consent
  • 6. to become less in amount <prices declined>
• transitive verb
  • 1. to give in prescribed order the grammatical forms of (a noun, pronoun, or adjective)
  • 2. obsolete
    • a. avert
    • b. avoid
  • 3. to cause to bend or bow downward
  • 4.
    • a. to refuse to undertake, undergo, engage in, or comply with <decline battle>
    • b. to refuse especially courteously <decline an invitation>
• ? declinable adjective
• ? decliner noun
• Synonyms:
  • decline, refuse, reject, repudiate, spurn mean to turn away by not accepting, receiving, or considering. decline often implies courteous refusal especially of offers or invitations <declined his party's nomination>. refuse suggests more positiveness or ungraciousness and often implies the denial of something asked for<refused to lend them the money>. reject implies a peremptory refusal by sending away or discarding<rejected the manuscript as unpublishable>. repudiate implies a casting off or disowning as untrue, unauthorized, or unworthy of acceptance<teenagers who repudiate the values of their parents>. spurn stresses contempt or disdain in rejection or repudiation<spurned his overtures of friendship>.

II. noun

• Date: 14th century
• 1. the process of declining:
  • a. a gradual physical or mental sinking and wasting away
  • ［b］［c dark

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