n. 25B6; verb
she declined all invitations : TURN DOWN, reject, brush aside, refuse, rebuff, spurn, repulse, dismiss; forgo, deny oneself, pass up; abstain from, say no; informal give the thumbs down to, give something a miss, give someone the brush-off; Brit. informal knock back.
the number of traders has declined : DECREASE, reduce, lessen, diminish, dwindle, contract, shrink, fall off, tail off; drop, fall, go down, slump, plummet; informal nosedive, take a header, crash.
standards steadily declined : DETERIORATE, degenerate, decay, crumble, collapse, slump, slip, slide, go downhill, worsen; weaken, wane, ebb; informal go to pot, go to the dogs, go down the toilet; Austral./NZ informal go to the pack.
accept, increase, rise.
25B6; noun
a decline in profits : REDUCTION, decrease, downturn, downswing, devaluation, depreciation, diminution, ebb, drop, slump, plunge; informal nosedive, crash.
forest decline : DETERIORATION, degeneration, degradation, shrinkage; death, decay.
25A0; in decline DECLINING, decaying, crumbling, collapsing, failing; disappearing, dying, moribund; informal on its last legs, on the way out.