adjective
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lying down; reclining
-
(of a part or organ) leaning or resting against another organ or the ground
a recumbent stem
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(of a fold in a rock formation) in which the axial plane is nearly horizontal
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of recumbent
1765–75; < Latin recumbent- (stem of recumbēns ), present participle of recumbere to lie back, equivalent to re- re- + cumb-, akin to cubāre to lie down + -ent- -ent
Explanation
Bikes on which you recline rather than sit upright are recumbent. Recumbent means leaning back in a reclining position. Recumbent starts like recline, which is an easy way to remember it. Your dad's position in his favorite La-Z-Boy reclining chair? Recumbent. Your position when you lay back on lounge chair at the pool? Also recumbent — and in both cases, these are both positions of comfort.
Vocabulary lists containing recumbent
Of Mice and Men
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"Of Mice and Men"
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And Then There Were None
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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.
Recumbent, he tosses a few handfuls of duff into a sifter fashioned from a cat litter box with its bottom cut out and replaced by a screen.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 19, 2022
Recumbent Bikes - In contrast to a traditional bicycle on which the rider sits upright, recumbents put the rider in a reclined position that some people find more comfortable.
From Washington Times • Apr. 17, 2021
Recumbent folds have horizontal or nearly horizontal axial planes.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017
In July, Ruscio announced that the school would remove replicas of Confederate battle flags from a display near a statue called “The Recumbent Lee” on the main floor of the chapel.
From Washington Post • Jan. 4, 2015
Arrived, with wild tumultuous noise they sate, Recumbent on the shining thrones of state.
From The Odyssey by Pope, Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
