Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-CLINE', v.i. [L. declino; de and clino, to lean. See Lean.]

1. To lean downward; as, the head declines toward the earth.
2. To lean from a right line; to deviate; in a literal sense.
3. To lean or deviate from rectitude, in a moral sense; to leave the path of truth or justice, or the course prescribed. Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. – Ps. cxix.157.
4. To fall; to tend or draw toward the close; as, the day declines.
5. To avoid or shun; to refuse; not to comply; not to do; as, he declined to take any part in the concern.
6. To fall; to fail; to sink; to decay; to be impaired; to tend to a less perfect state; as, the vigor of youth declines in age; health declines; virtue declines; religion declines; national credit and prosperity decline, under a corrupt administration.
7. To sink; to diminish; to fall in value; as, the prices of land and goods decline at the close of a war.