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Having the power or quality of deciding a question or controversy; putting an end to contest or controversy; final; conclusive. "A decisive, irrevocable doom." Bates. "Decisive campaign." Macaulay. "Decisive proof." Hallam.

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.

hould be deducted out of the pay of the foreign troops. Bp. Burnet. We deduct from the computation of our years that part of our time which is spent in . . . infancy. Norris.

Act of injuring another's reputation by any slanderous communication, written or oral; the wrong of maliciously injuring the good name of another; slander; detraction; calumny; aspersion.

Containing defamation; injurious to reputation; calumnious; slanderous; as, defamatory words; defamatory writings.

To harm or destroy the good fame or reputation of; to disgrace; especially, to speak evil of maliciously; to dishonor by slanderous reports; to calumniate; to asperse.

To put off; to postpone to a future time; to delay the execution of; to delay; to withhold. Defer the spoil of the city until night. Shak. God . . . will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name. Milton.

One who defers or puts off.

The act of defying, putting in opposition, or provoking to combat; a challenge; a provocation; a summons to combat. A war without a just defiance made. Dryden. Stood for her cause, and flung defiance down. Tennyson.

To soil or sully; to tarnish, as reputation; to taint. He is . . . among the greatest prelates of this age, however his character may be defiled by . . . dirty hands. Swift.

The act of reducing in rank, character, or reputation, or of abasing; a lowering from one's standing or rank in office or society; diminution; as, the degradation of a peer, a knight, a general, or a bishop. He saw many removes and degradations in all the other offices of which he had been possessed. Clarendon.…

To reduce in estimation, character, or reputation; to lessen the value of; to lower the physical, moral, or intellectual character of; to debase; to bring shame or contempt upon; to disgrace; as, vice degrades a man. O miserable mankind, to what fall Degraded, to what wretched state reserved! Milton. He pride . . . str…

Reduced in rank, character, or reputation; debased; sunken; low; base. The Netherlands . . . were reduced practically to a very degraded condition. Motley.

The act of killing a being of a divine nature; particularly, the putting to death of Jesus Christ. [R.] Earth profaned, yet blessed, with deicide. Prior.

A putting off or deferring; procrastination; lingering inactivity; stop; detention; hindrance. Without any delay, on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat. Acts xxv. 17. The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day. Macaulay.

Erase; remove; -- a direction to cancel something which has been put in type; usually expressed by a peculiar form of d, thus: .

The act of delegating, or state of being delegated; deputed power. [Obs.] By way of delegacy or grand commission. Sir W. Raleigh.

Any one sent and empowered to act for another; one deputed to represent; a chosen deputy; a representative; a commissioner; a vicar.

gress, etc.; the collective body of delegates; as, the delegation from Massachusetts; a deputation.

Relishes for the table; dainties; delicacies. "A dealer in delicatessen". G. H. Putnam.