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| VERB |
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| /dɪˈklaɪn/ |
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| 1 | I to become less or worse 减少；变糟；衰退 |
| The number of people buying their own homes has declined. 购置自有住房的人数已经减少。 |
| In many cases living standards are declining. 在许多方面生活水平正在下降。 |
| decline steadily/sharply/rapidly/dramatically Share prices declined sharply last week. 股票价格上星期大幅度下降。 |
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| 2 | I/T to say politely that you will not accept something or do something 谢绝；（礼貌地）拒绝 |
| decline an offer/invitation We asked her to the reception, but she declined the invitation. 我们请她参加招待会，但她谢绝了邀请。 |
| They offered to fly him to Brussels, but he declined. 他们主动提出用飞机送他去布鲁塞尔，但他谢绝了。 |
| decline to do sth The minister declined to comment on the rumours. 部长拒绝对那些传言发表评论。 |
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| 3 | I linguistics if a noun , adjective , or pronoun declines, its form changes depending on its relationship to other words in a sentence （名词、形容词或代词）变格，词形变化 |
| | 3a | T to list all the forms of the declension of a noun , adjective , or pronoun 列出（名词、形容词或代词的）词形变化；使变格 | |
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