recline
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
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
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List 10
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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.
Namely, those fees for everything including carry-on bags, soft drinks, coffee, cramped seats that didn’t recline and rocky reliability.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 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
The most balloon-like, airy element of this room is the plush bean bags, on which guests are encouraged to recline and relax.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2024
Several users said that it should be acceptable, given that the ability to recline is a built-in function of the seats.
From BBC • Sep. 23, 2024
No longer content to recline, it now reaches for the sky, much like the high-rise buildings lining our city streets.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
