decumbent

American  

[dih-kuhm-buhnt] / dɪˈkʌm bənt /

adjective

1. lying down; recumbent.

2. Botany. (of stems, branches, etc.) lying or trailing on the ground with the extremity tending to ascend.

---

decumbent British  

/ dɪˈkʌmbənt /

adjective

1. lying down or lying flat

2. botany (of certain stems) lying flat with the tip growing upwards

---

Other Word Forms

• decumbence noun
• decumbency noun
• decumbently adverb

Etymology

Origin of decumbent

1635–45; < Latin dēcumbent- (stem of dēcumbēns ), present participle of dēcumbere. See decubitus, -ent

Example Sentences

Most arrived more or less by acceptable means, but the suburban affliction defined as "a grass with creeping or decumbent stems which root freely at the nodes" sneaked in.

From Time Magazine Archive

The root of the hoary, decumbent, and less elegant, but larger-flowered Hedysarum mackenzii is poisonous, and nearly killed an old Indian woman at Fort Simpson, who had mistaken it for that of the preceding species.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

These root-like fibres then branch out, sending out straight or decumbent articulated stems.

From The $100 Prize Essay on the Cultivation of the Potato. Prize offered by W. T. Wylie and awarded to D. H. Compton. How to Cook the Potato, Furnished by Prof. Blot. by Compton, D. A.

It branches freely from the base; branches are tufted, decumbent at first but soon becoming erect, slender, glabrous, compressed and leafy, varying in length from 1 to 3 feet.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.

The stems are erect or slightly decumbent below, slender, rather compressed towards the base, leafy at the base, simple or branched, densely tufted and varying in length from 1 to 3 or 4 feet.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.