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To pass gradually from a sound, prosperous, or perfect state, to one of imperfection, adversity, or dissolution; to waste away; to decline; to fail; to become weak, corrupt, or disintegrated; to rot; to perish; as, a tree decays; fortunes decay; hopes decay. Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth ac…

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

tray; 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.

With decreasing volume of sound; -- a direction to performers, either written upon the staff (abbreviated Dec., or Decresc.), or indicated by the sign.

eat depth. Courage from the deeps of knowledge springs. Cowley. The hollow deep of hell resounded. Milton. Blue Neptune storms, the bellowing deeps resound. Pope.

or pertaining to the deeper parts of the sea; as, a deep-sea line (i. e., a line to take soundings at a great depth); deep-sea lead; deep-sea soundings, explorations, etc.

That which carries or conveys. Though air be the most favorable deferent of sounds. Bacon.

To carry; to convey. Try exactly the time wherein sound is delated. Bacon.

Conveyance. [Obs. or Archaic] In delation of sounds, the inclosure of them preserveth them. Bacon.

a high-wrought state of pleasurable feeling; lively pleasure; extreme satisfaction; joy. Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Shak. A fool hath no delight in understanding. Prov. xviii. 2.

Insane; mad; of unsound mind. -- De*ment"ed*ness, n.

Formed by the teeth and the lips, or representing a sound so formed. -- n.

Produced by applying the tongue to the teeth or to the gums; or representing a sound so formed. -- n.

An instrument which, placed against the teeth, conveys sound to the auditory nerve; an audiphone. Knight.

Lowness; as, depth of sound.

m of being; as, sunshine and rain develop the bud into a flower; to develop the mind. The sound developed itself into a real compound. J. Peile. All insects . . . acquire the jointed legs before the wings are fully developed. Owen.

Pertaining to, or situated on, the right hand; right, as opposed to sinister, or left. On sounding wings a dexter eagle flew. Pope.

Pertaining to the science or doctrine of refracted sounds.

That branch of natural philosophy which treats of the properties of sound as affected by passing through different mediums; -- called also diaphonics. See the Note under Acoustics.

; -- applied to points or marks used to distinguish letters of similar form, or different sounds of the same letter, as, a, â, ä, o, ô, etc. "Diacritical points." Sir W. Jones. A glance at this typography will reveal great difficulties, which diacritical marks necessarily throw in the way of both printer and writer. A.…