recline
Americanverb (used without object)
-
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
-
reclinationnoun
-
half-reclinedadjective
-
half-recliningadjective
-
reclinableadjective
-
unreclinedadjective
-
unrecliningadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reclinesimple
-
reclinessimple
-
have reclinedperfect
-
has reclinedperfect
-
am recliningprogressive
-
are recliningprogressive
-
is recliningprogressive
-
have been recliningperfect progressive
-
has been recliningperfect progressive
Past
-
reclinedsimple
-
had reclinedperfect
-
was recliningprogressive
-
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
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 10
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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
The back seat reclines nearly fully like a business-class airline seat and, as in most expensive Chinese cars these days, the seat gives a massage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
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
The museum reclines where the sculpture stands tall, folding a wall that leans south where a steel panel bends north.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2022
All seats can be equipped with heating and ventilation, and the rear row reclines.
From Seattle Times ● May 4, 2022
“You have three hours, and don’t expect me to help. I’m studying for the SATs,” Maribel says, wadding squishy orange plugs into her ears as she takes out a laptop and reclines in her seat.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
I got comfy and spent much of the trip with the seat reclined.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
Ann Haeckl reclined on a cot — an American Red Cross blanket pulled over her — while her brother John sat nearby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2025
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
A gaggle of boys reclined on a bean bag in “Caps for Sale,” passing around a copy of the book.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
The chaise longue on which Baby Kochamma reclined had crushed peanut shells stuffed into the crevices of its rotting upholstery.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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
Dress warmly and take a blanket or reclining chair to get comfortable, and let your eyesight adapt to the dark.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
A planetarium with a 50-foot dome and more than 100 reclining seats hosts astronomy, anatomy and environmental-studies classes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
The name “Groyper” comes from a meme, a plump, reclining version of the internet’s “Pepe the Frog.”
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2025
In the center of the room, there’s a leather reclining chair.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
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.
