recline
Americanverb (used without object)
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reclines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reclined,
past participle, past
-
reclining
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
reclines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reclined,
past participle, past
-
reclining
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reclinationnoun
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half-reclinedadjective
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half-recliningadjective
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reclinableadjective
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unreclinedadjective
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unrecliningadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reclinesimple
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reclinessimple
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have reclinedperfect
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has reclinedperfect
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am recliningprogressive
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are recliningprogressive
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is recliningprogressive
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have been recliningperfect progressive
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has been recliningperfect progressive
Past
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reclinedsimple
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had reclinedperfect
-
was recliningprogressive
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were recliningprogressive
-
had been recliningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recline
1375–1425; late Middle English reclinen < Latin reclīnāre, equivalent to re- re- + clīnāre to lean 1
Explanation
When you recline, you lounge or lean back. It isn't safe to recline while you're driving a car. However, it's perfectly safe to recline on your couch while you watch TV. When you lie back in your hammock, you recline, and when you tilt your airplane seat into the lap of the person sitting behind you, you recline it. You might even have a special chair that reclines when you lean back in it, magically providing you with a footrest — it's called a recliner. Recline, from the Latin reclinare, "to bend back," shares a Proto-Indo-European root with lean.
Vocabulary lists containing recline
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Calligraphy is a bower of abundance, where visitors can recline in plushly padded, heated and ventilated captain’s chairs, dressed in high-grade Nappa leather: the Relaxation Mode seating package.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
You ignore it picking up while you make your nest: secure the corners of your blanket, adjust your umbrella and finally, comfortably recline.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2025
Check whether the person behind is leaning on the table, or using a laptop - and recline slowly.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2024
Several of the ladies are now wearing pink sweats and snuggle on pink blankets on the floor or recline on hot pink blow up chairs to watch — what else? — the “Barbie” movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2023
Before I lodge the chair against the door, I pull the lever at the side to set it at full recline.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Covered in fractal patterns like “the symmetrical innards of a halved cabbage,” the giant humanoid insect reclines, “a god-sized man sleeping atop the quilt of the land.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
He reclines into his couch, one arm flung lazily behind his head, while the greens of his English garden sway in the waning summer light.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2025
If someone reclines into your personal space, what can you do?
From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2023
The nymph reclines on her side, resting on an urn, which in the past was used to send water into the banks of the lake below.
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2023
Just returns to the cab, draws all the window shades, slides into the driver’s seat, and reclines it to the limit.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
I got comfy and spent much of the trip with the seat reclined.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
For a decade, my therapy appointments required a 30-minute train ride to a mid-rise medical office building in suburban Philadelphia, where I reclined on a black leather couch, grabbing the occasional Kleenex.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2024
And this week a Hong Kong couple were banned by Cathay Pacific after tensions flared over a reclined seat.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2024
His throne is fully reclined and draped in a fleece Raiders blanket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2024
He was half reclined and it wasn’t long before he had drunk himself back into his deep slumber, trusting in the shackles and the sleeping forms of young people for his sense of security.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
In the months leading up to summer, Paul Gunsky installed new reclining seats and immersive sound systems at his Bay Area CineLux Theatres chain in hopes that moviegoers would return in droves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Earlier research has linked greater amounts of sedentary behavior, including sitting, reclining, or lying down while awake, with poorer health outcomes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
At a pagoda in the suburb of Amarapura, a statue of a reclining Buddha emerges from a carefully arranged pile of brick rubble, its face respectfully cleaned.
From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026
A third undated snap shows the former US president reclining in a hot tub beside someone whose face is blacked out to protect their identity.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026
After the surgery, Bitter painted a portrait of Jam reclining on their porch swing and wrapped in a blanket, her eyes tired but happy, her feet dangling in shimmering air.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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