superincumbent
Americanadjective
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lying or resting on something else.
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situated above; overhanging.
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exerted from above, as pressure.
adjective
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lying or being on top of something else
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situated or suspended above; overhanging
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of superincumbent
1655–65; < Latin superincumbent- (stem of superincumbēns ), present participle of superincumbere to lean over; see super-, incumbent
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.
The Ionic expresses increased lightness, by the interposition of its volute, as if the superincumbent weight had but gently pressed a soft solid into a scroll.
From Beauty Illustrated Chiefly by an Analysis and Classificatin of Beauty in Woman by Walker, Alexander
The whole city is built on piles, which sometimes sink into the mud, causing the superincumbent structures to incline forward like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
From From the Lakes of Killarney to the Golden Horn by Field, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
The superincumbent mass of earth would crush the strongest metal.
From Etidorhpa or the End of Earth. The Strange History of a Mysterious Being and The Account of a Remarkable Journey by Lloyd, John Uri
A considerable growth of trees had sprung from the soil collected above them, the roots of some having penetrated completely through the superincumbent shells to the earth beneath.
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Drake, Samuel Adams
Occasionally, when the whale blows just as it is rising out of or sinking in the sea, a little of the superincumbent water may be forced upwards by the column of breath.
From Sea Monsters Unmasked and Sea Fables Explained by Lee, H. W. (Henry William)
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.
