recline
verb /rɪˈklaɪn/
/rɪˈklaɪn/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they recline | /rɪˈklaɪn/ /rɪˈklaɪn/ |
| he / she / it reclines | /rɪˈklaɪnz/ /rɪˈklaɪnz/ |
| past simple reclined | /rɪˈklaɪnd/ /rɪˈklaɪnd/ |
| past participle reclined | /rɪˈklaɪnd/ /rɪˈklaɪnd/ |
| -ing form reclining | /rɪˈklaɪnɪŋ/ /rɪˈklaɪnɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] recline (against/in/on something) (formal) to sit or lie in a relaxed way, with your body leaning backwards
- She was reclining on a sofa.
- a reclining figure (= for example in a painting)
- [intransitive, transitive] recline (something) when a seat reclines or when you recline a seat, the back of it moves into a comfortable, sloping position
- a reclining chair
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘cause to lean back’): from Old French recliner or Latin reclinare ‘bend back, recline’, from re- ‘back’ + clinare ‘to bend’.