Decker Deck"er noun 1. One who, or that which, decks or adorns; a coverer; as, a table decker .

2. A vessel which has a deck or decks; -- used esp. in composition; as, a single- decker ; a three- decker .

Deckle Dec"kle (dĕk"k'l) noun [ Confer German deckel cover, lid.] (Paper Making) A separate thin wooden frame used to form the border of a hand mold, or a curb of India rubber or other material which rests on, and forms the edge of, the mold in a paper machine and determines the width of the paper. [ Spelt also deckel , and dekle .]

Deckle edge Dec"kle edge` The rough, untrimmed edge of paper left by the deckle; also, a rough edge in imitation of this.

Deckle-edged Dec"kle-edged` adjective Having a deckle edge; as, deckle-edged paper; a deckle-edged book.

Declaim De·claim" intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Declaimed ; present participle & verbal noun Declaiming .] [ Latin declamare ; de- + clamare to cry out: confer French déclamer . See Claim .] 1. To speak rhetorically; to make a formal speech or oration; to harangue; specifically, to recite a speech, poem, etc., in public as a rhetorical exercise; to practice public speaking; as, the students declaim twice a week.

2. To speak for rhetorical display; to speak pompously, noisily, or theatrically; to make an empty speech; to rehearse trite arguments in debate; to rant.

Grenville seized the opportunity to declaim on the repeal of the stamp act.

Bancroft.

Declaim De·claim" transitive verb 1. To utter in public; to deliver in a rhetorical or set manner.

2. To defend by declamation; to advocate loudly. [ Obsolete] " Declaims his cause." South.

Declaimant De·claim"ant noun A declaimer. [ R.]

Declaimer De·claim"er noun One who declaims; an haranguer.

Declamation Dec`la·ma"tion noun [ Latin declamatio , from declamare : confer French déclamation . See Declaim .] 1. The act or art of declaiming; rhetorical delivery; haranguing; loud speaking in public; especially, the public recitation of speeches as an exercise in schools and colleges; as, the practice declamation by students.

The public listened with little emotion, but with much civility, to five acts of monotonous declamation .

Macaulay.

2. A set or harangue; declamatory discourse.

3. Pretentious rhetorical display, with more sound than sense; as, mere declamation .

Declamator Dec"la·ma`tor noun [ Latin ] A declaimer. [ R.] Sir T. Elyot.

Declamatory De·clam"a·to·ry adjective [ Latin declamatorius : confer French déclamatoire .] 1. Pertaining to declamation; treated in the manner of a rhetorician; as, a declamatory theme.

2. Characterized by rhetorical display; pretentiously rhetorical; without solid sense or argument; bombastic; noisy; as, a declamatory way or style.

Declarable De·clar"a·ble adjective Capable of being declared. Sir T. Browne.

Declarant De·clar"ant noun [ Confer French déclarant , present participle of déclarer .] (Law) One who declares. Abbott.

Declaration Dec`la·ra"tion noun [ French déclaration , from Latin declaratio , from declarare . See Declare .] 1. The act of declaring, or publicly announcing; explicit asserting; undisguised token of a ground or side taken on any subject; proclamation; exposition; as, the declaration of an opinion; a declaration of war, etc.

2. That which is declared or proclaimed; announcement; distinct statement; formal expression; avowal.

Declarations of mercy and love . . . in the Gospel.

Tillotson.

3. The document or instrument containing such statement or proclamation; as, the Declaration of Independence (now preserved in Washington).

In 1776 the Americans laid before Europe that noble Declaration , which ought to be hung up in the nursery of every king, and blazoned on the porch of every royal palace.

Buckle.

4. (Law) That part of the process or pleadings in which the plaintiff sets forth in order and at large his cause of complaint; the narration of the plaintiff's case containing the count, or counts. See Count , noun , 3.

Declaration of Independence . (Amer. Hist.) See under Independence . -- Declaration of rights . (Eng. Hist) See Bill of rights , under Bill . -- Declaration of trust (Law) , a paper subscribed by a grantee of property, acknowledging that he holds it in trust for the purposes and upon the terms set forth. Abbott.

Declarative De·clar"a·tive adjective [ Latin declarativus , from declarare : confer French déclaratif .] Making declaration, proclamation, or publication; explanatory; assertive; declaratory. " Declarative laws." Baker.

The "vox populi," so declarative on the same side.

Swift.

Declaratively De·clar"a·tive·ly adverb By distinct assertion; not impliedly; in the form of a declaration.

The priest shall expiate it, that is, declaratively .

Bates.

Declarator Dec"la·ra`tor noun [ Latin , an announcer.] (Scots Law) A form of action by which some right or interest is sought to be judicially declared.

Declaratorily De·clar"a·to·ri·ly adverb In a declaratory manner.

Declaratory De·clar"a·to·ry adjective [ Confer French déclaratoire .] Making declaration, explanation, or exhibition; making clear or manifest; affirmative; expressive; as, a clause declaratory of the will of the legislature.

Declaratory act (Law) , an act or statute which sets forth more clearly, and declares what is, the existing law.

Declare De·clare" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Declared ; present participle & verbal noun Declaring .] [ French déclarer , from Latin declarare ; de + clarare to make clear, clarus , clear, bright. See Clear .] 1. To make clear; to free from obscurity. [ Obsolete] "To declare this a little." Boyle.

2. To make known by language; to communicate or manifest explicitly and plainly in any way; to exhibit; to publish; to proclaim; to announce.

This day I have begot whom I declare
My only Son.

Milton.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

Ps. xix. 1.

3. To make declaration of; to assert; to affirm; to set forth; to avow; as, he declares the story to be false.

I the Lord . . . declare things that are right.

Isa. xlv. 19.

4. (Com.) To make full statement of, as goods, etc., for the purpose of paying taxes, duties, etc.

To declare off , to recede from an agreement, undertaking, contract, etc.; to renounce. -- To declare one's self , to avow one's opinion; to show openly what one thinks, or which side he espouses.

Declare De·clare" intransitive verb 1. To make a declaration, or an open and explicit avowal; to proclaim one's self; -- often with for or against ; as, victory declares against the allies.

Like fawning courtiers, for success they wait,
And then come smiling, and declare for fate.

Dryden.

2. (Law) To state the plaintiff's cause of action at law in a legal form; as, the plaintiff declares in trespass.

Declaredly De·clar"ed·ly adverb Avowedly; explicitly.

Declaredness De·clar"ed·ness noun The state of being declared.

Declarement De·clare"ment noun Declaration. [ Obsolete]

Declarer De·clar"er noun One who makes known or proclaims; that which exhibits. Udall.

Declass De·class" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Declassed ; present participle & verbal noun Declassing .] [ Confer French déclasser .] To remove from a class; to separate or degrade from one's class. North Am. Rev.

Declension De·clen"sion noun [ Apparently corrupted from French déclinaison , from Latin declinatio , from declinare . See Decline , and confer Declination .] 1. The act or the state of declining; declination; descent; slope.

The declension of the land from that place to the sea.

T. Burnet.

2. A falling off towards a worse state; a downward tendency; deterioration; decay; as, the declension of virtue, of science, of a state, etc.

Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts
To base declension .

Shak.

3. Act of courteously refusing; act of declining; a declinature; refusal; as, the declension of a nomination.

4. (Gram.) (a) Inflection of nouns, adjectives, etc., according to the grammatical cases. (b) The form of the inflection of a word declined by cases; as, the first or the second declension of nouns, adjectives, etc. (c) Rehearsing a word as declined.

» The nominative was held to be the primary and original form, and was likened to a perpendicular line; the variations, or oblique cases, were regarded as fallings (hence called casus , cases, or fallings) from the nominative or perpendicular; and an enumerating of the various forms, being a sort of progressive descent from the noun's upright form, was called a declension . Harris.

Declension of the needle , declination of the needle.

Declensional De·clen"sion·al adjective Belonging to declension.

Declensional and syntactical forms.

M. Arnold.

Declinable De·clin"a·ble adjective [ Confer French déclinable . See Decline .] Capable of being declined; admitting of declension or inflection; as, declinable parts of speech.

Declinal De·clin"al adjective Declining; sloping.

Declinate Dec"li·nate adjective [ Latin declinatus , past participle of declinare . See Decline .] Bent downward or aside; (Botany) bending downward in a curve; declined.

Declination Dec`li·na"tion noun [ Latin declinatio a bending aside, an avoiding: confer French déclination a decadence. See Declension .] 1. The act or state of bending downward; inclination; as, declination of the head.

2. The act or state of falling off or declining from excellence or perfection; deterioration; decay; decline. "The declination of monarchy." Bacon.

Summer . . . is not looked on as a time
Of declination or decay.

Waller.

3. The act of deviating or turning aside; oblique motion; obliquity; withdrawal.

The declination of atoms in their descent.

Bentley.

Every declination and violation of the rules.

South.

4. The act or state of declining or refusing; withdrawal; refusal; averseness.

The queen's declination from marriage.

Stow.

5. (Astron.) The angular distance of any object from the celestial equator, either northward or southward.

6. (Dialing) The arc of the horizon, contained between the vertical plane and the prime vertical circle, if reckoned from the east or west, or between the meridian and the plane, reckoned from the north or south.

7. (Gram.) The act of inflecting a word; declension. See Decline , transitive verb , 4.

Angle of declination , the angle made by a descending line, or plane, with a horizontal plane. -- Circle of declination , a circle parallel to the celestial equator. -- Declination compass (Physics) , a compass arranged for finding the declination of the magnetic needle. -- Declination of the compass or needle , the horizontal angle which the magnetic needle makes with the true north-and-south line.

Declinator Dec"li·na`tor noun [ Confer French déclinateur . See Decline .] 1. An instrument for taking the declination or angle which a plane makes with the horizontal plane.

2. A dissentient. [ R.] Bp. Hacket.

Declinatory De·clin"a·to·ry adjective [ Late Latin declinatorius , from Latin declinare : confer French déclinatoire .] Containing or involving a declination or refusal, as of submission to a charge or sentence. Blackstone.

Declinatory plea (O. Eng. Law) , the plea of sanctuary or of benefit of clergy, before trial or conviction; -- now abolished.

Declinature De·clin"a·ture noun The act of declining or refusing; as, the declinature of an office.

Decline De·cline" intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Declined ; present participle & verbal noun Declining .] [ Middle English declinen to bend down, lower, sink, decline (a noun), French décliner to decline, refuse, from Latin declinare to turn aside, inflect (a part of speech), avoid; de- + clinare to incline; akin to English lean . See Lean , intransitive verb ] 1. To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, etc.; to condescend. "With declining head." Shak.

He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family.

Lady Hutchinson.

Disdaining to decline ,
Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries.

Byron.

The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly.

Sir W. Scott.

2. To tend or draw towards a close, decay, or extinction; to tend to a less perfect state; to become diminished or impaired; to fail; to sink; to diminish; to lessen; as, the day declines ; virtue declines ; religion declines ; business declines .

That empire must decline
Whose chief support and sinews are of coin.

Waller.

And presume to know . . .
Who thrives, and who declines .

Shak.

3. To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw; as, a line that declines from straightness; conduct that declines from sound morals.

Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.

Ps. cxix. 157.

4. To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent ; as, he declined , upon principle.

Decline De·cline" transitive verb 1. To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.

In melancholy deep, with head declined .

Thomson.

And now fair Phoebus gan decline in haste
His weary wagon to the western vale.

Spenser.

2. To cause to decrease or diminish. [ Obsolete] "You have declined his means." Beau. & Fl.

He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it.

Burton.

3. To put or turn aside; to turn off or away from; to refuse to undertake or comply with; reject; to shun; to avoid; as, to decline an offer; to decline a contest; he declined any participation with them.

Could I
Decline this dreadful hour?

Massinger.

4. (Gram.) To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of; as, to decline a noun or an adjective.

» Now restricted to such words as have case inflections; but formerly it was applied both to declension and conjugation.

After the first declining of a noun and a verb.

Ascham.

5. To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun. [ R.] Shak.

Decline De·cline" noun [ French déclin . See Decline , intransitive verb ] 1. A falling off; a tendency to a worse state; diminution or decay; deterioration; also, the period when a thing is tending toward extinction or a less perfect state; as, the decline of life; the decline of strength; the decline of virtue and religion.

Their fathers lived in the decline of literature.

Swift.

2. (Medicine) That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence; as, the decline of a fever.

3. A gradual sinking and wasting away of the physical faculties; any wasting disease, esp. pulmonary consumption; as, to die of a decline . Dunglison.

Syn. -- Decline , Decay , Consumption . Decline marks the first stage in a downward progress; decay indicates the second stage, and denotes a tendency to ultimate destruction; consumption marks a steady decay from an internal exhaustion of strength. The health may experience a decline from various causes at any period of life; it is naturally subject to decay with the advance of old age; consumption may take place at almost any period of life, from disease which wears out the constitution. In popular language decline is often used as synonymous with consumption . By a gradual decline , states and communities lose their strength and vigor; by progressive decay , they are stripped of their honor, stability, and greatness; by a consumption of their resources and vital energy, they are led rapidly on to a completion of their existence.

Declined De·clined" adjective Declinate.

Decliner De·clin"er noun He who declines or rejects.

A studious decliner of honors.

Evelyn.

Declinometer Dec`li·nom"e·ter noun [ Decline + -meter .] (Physics) An instrument for measuring the declination of the magnetic needle.

Declinous De·clin"ous adjective Declinate.

Declivitous, Declivous De·cliv"i·tous, De·cli"vous adjective Descending gradually; moderately steep; sloping; downhill.

Declivity De·cliv"i·ty noun ; plural Declivities . [ Latin declivitas , from declivis sloping, downhill; de + clivus a slope, a hill; akin to clinare to incline: confer French déclivité . See Decline .] 1. Deviation from a horizontal line; gradual descent of surface; inclination downward; slope; -- opposed to acclivity , or ascent; the same slope, considered as descending , being a declivity , which, considered as ascending , is an acclivity .

2. A descending surface; a sloping place.

Commodious declivities and channels for the passage of the waters.

Derham.

Decoct De·coct" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Decocted ; present participle & verbal noun Decocting .] [ Latin decoctus , past participle of decoquere to boil down; de- + coquere to cook, boil. See Cook to decoct.] 1. To prepare by boiling; to digest in hot or boiling water; to extract the strength or flavor of by boiling; to make an infusion of.

2. To prepare by the heat of the stomach for assimilation; to digest; to concoct.

3. To warm, strengthen, or invigorate, as if by boiling. [ R.] " Decoct their cold blood." Shak.

Decoctible De·coct"i·ble adjective Capable of being boiled or digested.

Decoction De·coc"tion noun [ French décoction , Latin decoctio .] 1. The act or process of boiling anything in a watery fluid to extract its virtues.

In decoction . . . it either purgeth at the top or settleth at the bottom.

Bacon.

2. An extract got from a body by boiling it in water.

If the plant be boiled in water, the strained liquor is called the decoction of the plant.

Arbuthnot.

In pharmacy decoction is opposed to infusion, where there is merely steeping.

Latham.

Decocture De·coc"ture noun A decoction. [ R.]

Decoherer De`co·her"er noun [ Prefix de- + coherer .] (Electricity) A device for restoring a coherer to its normal condition after it has been affected by an electric wave, a process usually accomplished by some method of tapping or shaking, or by rotation of the coherer.

Decollate De·col"late transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Decollated ; present participle & verbal noun Decollating .] [ Latin decollatus , past participle of decollare to behead; de- + collum neck.] To sever from the neck; to behead; to decapitate.

The decollated head of St. John the Baptist.

Burke.

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