procumbent, a.
(prəʊˈkʌmbənt)
[ad. L. prōcumbent-em, pr. pple. of prōcumb-ĕre to fall forwards, bend down, f. prō, pro-1 1 b + *cumb-ĕre to lay oneself: see cumbent.]
1. Lying on the face, prone; prostrate.
| 1721 Bailey, Procumbent, lying along. 1755 Johnson, Procumbent, lying down, prone. 1791 Cowper Odyss. ix. 580 Procumbent, each obey'd. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) II. 449 It [bleeding] will cease upon bending the head forward, or lying procumbent. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 486 Medullary rays with procumbent cells are..easy to distinguish from parenchyma of the bundles. |
2. Bot. Of a plant or stem: Lying flat on the ground without throwing out roots; growing along the ground; having a prostrate or trailing stem.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. iv. §4. 82 Week procumbent stalks, full of joynts. 1756 Phil. Trans. XLIX. 835 The common Tormentil is..very frequently found in a procumbent state. 1851 T. Moore Brit. Ferns 195 Lycopodium selaginoides..has a slender, procumbent, often branched stem. |
3. Zool. Of a tooth: lying along the jaw.
| 1874 T. C. Jerdon Mammals of India 62 Upper middle incisors distant; lower ones procumbent. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 506/1 In the lower jaw there is a single pair of procumbent incisors, followed by several small teeth representing the canine and early premolars. 1977 Roonwal & Mohnot Primates S. Asia 41 It holds small fruit in both hands while chewing, and larger food, such as an unpeeled banana, is chipped with its procumbent lower incisors. 1978 Nature 17 Aug. 663/1 Diplodocids had elongated tapering snouts with delicate, procumbent teeth for selecting smaller plant parts. |