Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lying down, especially in a position of comfort or rest; reclining.
  • adjective Resting; idle.
  • adjective Biology Resting on the surface from which it arises. Used of an organ or other structure.
  • noun A recumbent bicycle.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Leaning; reclining.
  • Reposing; inactive; idle; listless.
  • In zoology and botany, noting a part that leans or reposes upon any thing.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Leaning; reclining; lying. Hence, figuratively; Resting; inactive; idle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Lying down.
  • adjective Inactive; idle.
  • noun A bicycle or tricycle that places the rider in a reclined posture.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective lying down; in a position of comfort or rest

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin recumbēns, recumbent-, present participle of recumbere, to lie down : re-, re- + cumbere, to lie.]

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Examples

  • Three major characters are shown in recumbent positions.

    Prone and supine : Bev Vincent 2009

  • I agree with hhazzahh, that a recumbent might be the solution to your problem in that it at least relieves your ailing knee of the strain of having to carry half your body weight ...and anyway, you'd like to think that recumbents are good for something.

    The Guardian World News Matthew Sparkes 2010

  • Of thirty circles known near Aberdeen twenty-six still possess the 'recumbent' stone, and in others it may originally have existed.

    Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders 1908

  • Aberdeen type, which is similar to the last, but has a 'recumbent' stone between two of the uprights of its outer circle.

    Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders 1908

  • The uprights nearest this 'recumbent' block are the tallest in the circle, and the size of the rest decreases towards the north.

    Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders 1908

  • And so far just about the only thing that cuts through the nausea consistently enough to let me eat, like ya do, is going from 45 minutes of biking on the big sturdy recumbent bike 4-5 days a week -- plus PT and yoga and Pilates -- to doing about 90 minutes of biking on the said recumbent bike 7 days a week -- still plus PT and yoga and Pilates.

    Barnstorming on an Invisible Segway markgritter 2009

  • Walking the cliffside path among Ajanta's caves, the history of two of India's greatest ages and one of its religions envelops us until, in cave 26, we encounter a 23-foot-long sculpture of the recumbent Buddha, a monument to his death and final enlightenment.

    Buddha of the Material World Michael FitzGerald 2011

  • The car rides low and stolid, like a limo, probably because its main battery, which runs the length of the chassis and bifurcates the rear seat, limiting the likelihood of three passengers or recumbent teenage sex also weighs as much as a fully stocked Maytag refrigerator.

    Gene and the Machine: The shocking truth about the electric Volt Gene Weingarten 2011

  • A sphinx is a mythological creature that is depicted as a recumbent feline with a human head.

    Where On Google Earth Can You Find These Monuments? | myFiveBest 2010

  • And we brought home the new recumbent stationary bike, which is good, because everybody including the dog was starting to have serious worries about my safety on the old one.

    Barnstorming on an Invisible Segway timprov 2010

Comments

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  • I am a long-time bike nut. Recumbent bikes put your feet in a forward position as you lie semi-prone on it. Uses some different muccles than an upright bike. They are best for flat roads and fast downhills, but climb like dogs.

    June 1, 2007