▪ I. recline, n. rare.
(rɪˈklaɪn)
[f. the vb.]
A recumbent or reclining posture.
| 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty xvii. 229 Holding the head erect is but occasionally right; a proper recline of it may be as graceful. 1773 J. Ross Fratricide v. 529 (MS.) From recline erecting her fine front. 1882 Cable Dr. Sevier x. (1884) I. 69 He drew partly up from his half recline. |
▪ II. † reˈcline, a. Obs.—1
[ad. L. reclīnis reclining, f. reclīnāre to recline.]
Recumbent, reclining.
| 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 333 Fruits which the compliant boughs Yeilded them, side-long as they sat recline On the soft downie Bank. |
▪ III. recline, v.
(rɪˈklaɪn)
Also 5 reclyne.
[ad. OF. recliner (13th c. in Godef.), or L. reclīnāre, f. re- re- + -clīnāre: see decline v.]
1. a. trans. To lay down, or make to lie down (properly on the back); to cause to incline (backwards); to place in a recumbent or leaning position; to rest (the head, etc.) in this way.
Properly distinguished from incline (as in quot. 1578), but the distinction is not always clearly preserved.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 142 Her seed yf me reclyne In baume, or narde, or opi daies thre. Ibid. xii. 402 The Grekish sheep..on bored plankis they reclyne. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xlvii. 204 (Harl. MS.) The sonne of man haþe not wer he may reclyne or enbowe his hede. 1578 Banister Hist. Man i. 19 By meanes of which Articulation, the Head is now inclined, and now reclined. a 1667 Cowley Horace, Ep. ii. 25 With how much Joy does he..His careless Head on the fresh Green recline. 1682 Dryden Medal 322 Our wild labours wearied into Rest Reclin'd us on a rightful Monarch's Breast. 1762 Churchill Night 114 The homely bed, Where virtue, self-approv'd, reclines her head. 1792 Bar. Munchausen's Trav. xxix. 133 Both the warring champions..'neath their feet reclined their weapons. 1822 T. Taylor Apuleius 243 She easily reclined me on the bed. 1972 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 25 Aug. 19/2 A back-row, next-to-bulkhead seat is often fixed, i.e. the backrest cannot be reclined. |
| refl. 1774 J. Bryant Mythol. II. 182 Reclining himself under the shade of an oak. 1813 Scott Rokeby ii. ii, Each huge trunk that..Reclines him o'er the darksome tide. |
b. In pa. pple. denoting position or posture.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 134 On his right Shoulder his thick Mane reclin'd, Ruffles at speed. 1726 Swift Gulliver iii. ii, Their heads were all reclined either to the right or the left. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 302 Thus oft, reclined at ease, I lose an hour At evening. 1818 Shelley Rev. Islam xii. xviii, Cythna sate reclined Beside me. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 496/1 The branches are so much reclined that..the flowers will not be well seen. 1885 Mag. Art Sept. 443/1 The great god Pan reclined on moss-covered stones And fluting to the attentive Dryads. |
† c. To incline (one's ear). Obs.—1
| 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. I. 113 b, The Lorde which reclined his eare to every trifling report and credited the wordes of every whistling pickethanke. |
† d. To turn (a person) from something. Obs.—1
| a 1614 Donne βιαθανατος (1644) 215 To make it of more use, they would utterly recline and avert our nature from it. |
† e. ? To turn aside, divert. Obs.—1
| 1613 Day Festivals viii. (1615) 233 The Authoritie of a Father, commanding that which is not to bee done, must rather bee reclined, then resisted. |
2. intr. Of a dial: To have a backward inclination, to lie away back from the vertical. ? Obs.
| 1593 T. Fale Dialling 4 If the plat standeth not upright, but maketh an obtuse or blunt angle with the Horizon, it is said to recline. 1668 Moxon Mech. Dial. 18 It is not upright, but Inclines or Reclines... If you find the Plane Reclines, apply the side AD to it. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 706 Suppose a direct West Plain, should recline from the Zenith towards the Horizon 35 deg. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) V. 788/1 If the plane..be made to incline, or recline, any given number of degrees, the hour-circles of the sphere will still cut the edge of the plane [etc.]. |
3. a. Of persons or parts of the body: To rest in a recumbent or inclined position, lean or repose on or upon something.
| 1697 Dryden æneid ix. 581 His snowy Neck reclines upon his Breast. 1742 Pope Dunc. iv. 20 Soft on her lap her Laureate son reclines. 1797 Southey Lett. Journ. Spain 89 When there reclining on this grassy slope, I bore thee, Relic of my Love! away. 1815 Shelley Alastor 635 Upon an ivied stone Reclined his languid head. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iii. §43. 164 It can matter little to him to know whether the Jews ate sitting or reclining. |
| transf. 1807 Wordsw. White Doe iv. 153 Not forbidden to recline With hope upon the Will divine. |
b. Of inanimate things. Const. over, to.
| 1793 Wordsw. Descr. Sketches 278 The wood-crowned cliffs that o'er the lake recline. 1849 H. Miller Footpr. Creat. x. 186 The stream to which they [fossil trees] reclined, must have flowed from nearly north-east to south-west. |
c. Mil. Of one extremity of an army: To rest upon a place. rare.
| 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) I. vii. 283 His rear reclined upon the river. |
d. Of a seat: to admit of mechanical inclination of the back to a reclining or recumbent position.
| 1972 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 24 Oct. 3/2 The company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of upholstered furniture, principally medium priced chairs that recline. 1974 Trafford's Catal. 963/3 Multiposition metal reclining chair... Can recline to many positions. |
† 4. To incline, have a tendency, to return to a certain condition, physical or mental. Obs. rare.
| c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 141 It wyl turne to watyr ageyn..For snow onto watyr dothe evyr more reclyne. 1706 De Foe Jure Divino Introd. 5 She still reclines to the first State she Loves. |
† 5. To fall backwards or down. Obs.—1
| 1764 Goldsm. Captivity iii, See yonder tower just nodding to the fall:..And now behold the battlements recline. |