| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | move smoothly; move down |
| Synonyms: | accelerate, coast, drift, drive, drop, fall, fall off, flow, glide, glissade, launch, move, move along, move over, propel, sag, scooch, shift, shove, skate, skid, skim, slip, slither, slump, smooth along, spill, stream, thrust, toboggan, tumble, veer |
| Main Entry: | budge |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | dislodge from staid position |
| Synonyms: | bend, change, change position, convince, give way, inch, influence, locomote, move, persuade, propel, push, remove, roll, shift, slide, stir, sway, yield |
| Main Entry: | coast |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | glide along without much effort |
| Synonyms: | cruise, drift, float, freewheel, get by, ride on current, sail, skate, slide, smooth along, taxi |
| Notes: | the difference between a coast and the shore is the coast is the seaward limit of the land and the shore is the landward limit of the sea shore is the general word for an edge of land directly bordering a body of water; coast is limited to land along a sea or ocean |
| Main Entry: | crawl |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | move very slowly |
| Synonyms: | clamber, creep, drag, drag oneself along, go on all fours, go on belly, grovel, hang back, inch, lag, loiter along, lollygag, move at snail's pace, move on hands and knees, plod, poke, pull oneself along, scrabble, slide, slither, squirm, worm, wriggle, writhe |
| Main Entry: | decline |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | lessen, become less |
| Synonyms: | abate, backslide, cheapen, decay, decrease, degenerate, depreciate, deteriorate, diminish, disimprove, disintegrate, droop, drop, dwindle, ebb, fade, fail, fall, fall off, flag, go downhill, go to pot, go to the dogs, hit the skids, languish, lapse, lose value, lower, pine, recede, relapse, retrograde, return, revert, rot, sag, settle, shrink, sink, slide, subside, wane, weaken, worsen |
| Notes: | one declines (or accepts) something that is offered; one refuses (or agrees) to accept something offered |
| Antonyms: | improve, increase, rise |
| Main Entry: | descend |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | move down, lower a |
| Synonyms: | cascade, cataract, cave in, coast, collapse, crash, crouch, decline, deplane, detrain, dip, disembark, dismount, dive, dribble, drop, fall, fall prostrate, get down, get off, go down, gravitate, ground, incline, light, lose balance, penetrate, pitch, plop, plummet, plunge, prolapse, set, settle, sink, slant, slide, slip, slope, slough off, slump, stoop, stumble, submerge, subside, swoop, toboggan, topple, trickle, trip, tumble, weep |
| Antonyms: | ascend, go up, increase, rise |
| Main Entry: | deteriorate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | decay, degenerate |
| Synonyms: | adulterate, alloy, be worse for wear, become worse, break, corrode, corrupt, crumble, debase, debilitate, decline, decompose, degrade, deprave, depreciate, descend, disimprove, disintegrate, ebb, fade, fail, fall apart, flag, go downhill, go to pieces, go to pot, go to the dogs, hit the skids, impair, injure, languish, lapse, lessen, lose it, lose quality, lower, mar, pervert, regress, retrograde, retrogress, rot, sink, skid, slide, spoil, undermine, vitiate, weaken, wear away, worsen |
| Notes: | to degenerate means 'to decline in value, move lower on a scale' but to deteriorate means 'to worsen, to become lowered, or be reduced in value'; degenerate pertains more to character and virtue while deteriorate is more about loss of strength or vitality |
| Antonyms: | build, construct, develop, get better, improve |
| Main Entry: | dodge |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | avoid |
| Synonyms: | circumlocute, dark, deceive, ditch, duck, elude, equivocate, escape, evade, fence, fend off, fudge, get around, get out of, give the slip, hedge, juke, lurch, malinger, move to the side, parry, pussyfoot, put the move on, shake, shake off, shift, shirk, short-circuit, shuffle, sidestep, skip out on, skirt, slide, slip, swerve, tergiversate, tergiverse, trick, turn aside, weasel |
| Antonyms: | confront, encounter, face, meet, stand up to |
| Main Entry: | drift |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | move aimlessly |
| Synonyms: | accumulate, aim, amass, amble, be carried along, coast, dance, draw near, flicker, flit, flitter, float, flow, flutter, gad, gallivant*, gather, go with the tide, go-that-a-way, gravitate, hover, kick around, linger, malinger, meander, mosey, muck, ride, sail, saunter, scud, skim, slide, stray, stroll, tend, waft, wander, wash* |
| Antonyms: | decide, direct, guide, set |