decline

英 [dɪ'klaɪn] 美 [dɪ'klaɪn]

• v. 下降；减少；变弱；拒绝；倾斜
• n. 衰微；跌落；晚年

双解释义

n. (名词)

1. [C]下降,减少,衰退

   a period or process of declining; movement to a lower or worse position

v. (动词)

1. vt. & vi. 辞谢; 谢绝(邀请等)

   say “No” (to); refuse (sth offered)

2. vi. (太阳)落下

   (of the sun) go down

详尽释义

v. 动词

1. 下降，减少
2. 使倾斜，使低垂
3. 拒绝，婉辞，谢绝
4. （太阳等）落下
5. 【语】使发生词尾变化，使变格
6. 衰退，衰落
7. <古>下倾，下垂
8. 接近结束
9. 沦落，堕落

n. 名词

1. 衰退，衰弱
2. 下降
3. 减少
4. 落下
5. 衰退（落）期，结束期，后期
6. 倾斜，斜坡
7. <古>消耗病（如肺病）

英英释义

Noun:

1. change toward something smaller or lower

2. a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state

3. a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current

4. a downward slope or bend

Verb:

1. grow worse;

   "Conditions in the slum worsened"
   

2. refuse to accept;

   "He refused my offer of hospitality"
   

3. show unwillingness towards;

   "he declined to join the group on a hike"
   

4. grow smaller;

   "Interest in the project waned"
   

5. go down;

   "The roof declines here"
   

6. go down in value;

   "the stock market corrected"
   "prices slumped"
   

7. inflect for number, gender, case, etc.,

   "in many languages, speakers decline nouns, pronouns, and adjectives"
   

例句

用作动词 (v.)

1. I wish prices would decline.
   但愿物价下降。
2. The price of 14 inches TV set declined from 400 to 320 yuan each.
   14英寸的电视机每台从400元降到320元。
3. He spent his declining years in the country.
   他在乡间度过晚年。
4. I must regretfully decline your kind invitation.
   我很抱歉必须拒绝你的盛情邀请。
5. The wall declined slightly on account of the earthquake.
   墙壁因地震而倾斜。

用作名词 (n.)

1. This decline in vigour with the passing of time is called ageing.
   这种随着时间流逝的活力衰退就叫做衰老。
2. There is a sharp decline in unemployment.
   失业率急剧下跌。
3. The decline of sales embarrassed the company.
   销路下降使公司陷于财政困难。

常见句型

用作名词 (n.)

1. There has been a sharp decline in profits this year.
   今年的利润大幅度下降。

用作动词 (v.)

用作不及物动词

S+～(+A)

1. We asked her to come to our party, but she declined.
   我们请她来参加我们的晚会,但是她谢绝了。
2. The sun is declining.
   太阳在落山。
3. The ground on each side declines gently.
   地面的两侧略向下倾斜。
4. Their position in international trade rapidly declined.
   他们在国际贸易中的地位急速下降。
5. His health has declined these months.
   在过去的几个月里,他的身体衰弱了。

用作及物动词

S+～+ n./pron.

1. I declined his invitation.
   我谢绝了他的邀请。

S+～+to- v

1. The boy declined to answer a question.
   那男孩拒绝回答问题。

S+～+ v -ing

1. He declined going to the party with her.
   他不肯跟她一起去参加晚会。

经典引文

• It is only in the..year of Rembrandt's death that we detect some decline in the artist's expressive power.

  出自： J. Rosenberg

• The Turf, which had fallen into a decline in recent years had revived wonderfully.

  出自： J. G. Farrell

• Yet doe I not decline from thy testimonies.

  出自：Bible (AV): Psalms

常用短语

用作名词 (n.)

fall〔go〕 into a decline

失去力量〔影响〕 lose strength, influence, etc.

on the decline

在消减,在衰退 becoming weaker, fewer, etc.

词汇搭配

用作动词 (v.)

～+名词

• decline a proposal〔invitation〕 谢绝建议〔邀请〕
• decline an appointment〔the challenge〕 不愿接受委任〔挑战〕
• decline suggestion 谢绝建议

～+副词

• decline westward 向西下沉
• decline courteously〔tactfully〕 有礼貌〔巧妙〕地谢绝
• decline drastically 急剧下降
• decline gradually 渐渐下落
• decline notably〔steadily〕 显著〔略有〕下降

～+介词

• decline toward 向…下沉
• decline with 婉言谢绝

词语用法

1. decline作动词指“有礼貌地谢绝”，比refuse语气上要婉转些；
2. decline后可跟不定式或动名词，但跟不定式比较普遍。

   She declined to answer my questions.

3. decline的名词形式有declination，declinature和declinal，但都不常见。美语中declination比较常见，但还是习惯用refuse的名词形式refusal。

v. (动词)

1. decline用作动词的基本意思是有礼貌地拒绝邀请、给予或服务。引申可表示“衰落,降低”“倾斜,下降”“下沉”。作“辞谢,谢绝”解时多用作及物动词,其后可接名词、动名词或动词不定式作宾语。作“衰落”解时只用作不及物动词。

词义辨析

v. (动词)

decline, refuse, reject

• 这三个词的共同意思是“拒绝”。其区别是：
• 1.从语气上来说, refuse是最普通的用词,一般指直接地拒绝,语气不那么委婉。decline语气较委婉,相当于汉语的“谢绝”。例如:
• He declined my invitation because of a previous appointment.因另有约会在先,他谢绝了我的邀请。
• reject语气强烈,用于正式场合,如外交和商业条款之类,表示当面明确地拒绝所给、所请、所提议之事,另外还有抛弃或剔除不适当的或不喜欢的东西的意味。例如:
• He rejected my friendly advice upon further consideration.他经过进一步的考虑,明确地拒绝了我友好的建议。
• 2.从搭配上来说,这三个词都可接名词(如an offer)作宾语,但invitation只能与refer, decline搭配; suggestion只能与reject, decline搭配; permission只能与refuse搭配; plan只能与reject搭配。另外refuse和decline都可接动词不定式作宾语,而reject则不可以。例如:
• He refused〔declined〕 to join us in the game.他拒绝与我们一起游戏。

refuse，decline，reject，repel，deny

• 这些动词均含“拒绝”之意。
• refuse语气较重，指态度坚决，肯定无疑的拒绝。
• decline指婉言谢绝他人的帮助或邀请等。
• reject多指由于某物某事某行为不能让人满意而被当面直截了当地拒绝，与之相近的是spurn，鄙弃之意。
• repel作“拒绝”解时，语气比reject强。
• deny指否认（观点）。

词源解说

• ☆ 14世纪初期进入英语，直接源自古法语的decliner，意为折弯，转弯；最初源自拉丁语的declinare：de (从） + clinare (弯曲）。

近反义词

【近义词】

• drop
• drop
• refuse
• reject

【反义词】

• accept
• agree