INCLINE

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does incline mean? 

• INCLINE (noun)
  The noun INCLINE has 2 senses:

1. an elevated geological formation

2. an inclined surface connecting two levels

  Familiarity information: INCLINE used as a noun is rare.

• INCLINE (verb)
  The verb INCLINE has 6 senses:

1. have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined

2. bend or turn (one's ear) towards a speaker in order to listen well

3. lower or bend (the head or upper body), as in a nod or bow

4. be at an angle

5. feel favorably disposed or willing

6. make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude or belief

  Familiarity information: INCLINE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INCLINE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An elevated geological formation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

incline; side; slope

Context example:

the house was built on the side of a mountain

Hypernyms ("incline" is a kind of...):

formation; geological formation ((geology) the geological features of the earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "incline"):

acclivity; ascent; climb; raise; rise; upgrade (an upward slope or grade (as in a road))

ski slope (a snow-covered slope for skiing)

piedmont (a gentle slope leading from the base of a mountain to a region of flat land)

mountainside; versant (the side or slope of a mountain)

hillside (the side or slope of a hill)

escarpment; scarp (a long steep slope or cliff at the edge of a plateau or ridge; usually formed by erosion)

declension; declination; decline; declivity; descent; downslope; fall (a downward slope or bend)

coast (a slope down which sleds may coast)

canyonside (the steeply sloping side of a canyon)

bank; camber; cant (a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force)

bank (sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water))

Holonyms ("incline" is a part of...):

elevation; natural elevation (a raised or elevated geological formation)

Derivation:

incline (be at an angle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An inclined surface connecting two levels

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

incline; ramp

Hypernyms ("incline" is a kind of...):

inclined plane (a simple machine for elevating objects; consists of plane surface that makes an acute angle with the horizontal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "incline"):

ski jump (a steep downward ramp from which skiers jump)

Derivation:

incline (be at an angle)

• INCLINE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they incline ... he / she / it inclines
Past simple: inclined   
Past participle: inclined   
-ing form: inclining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

be given; incline; lean; run; tend

Context example:

He inclined to corpulence

Hypernyms (to "incline" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "incline"):

take kindly to (be willing or inclined to accept)

suffer (be given to)

gravitate (move toward)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

inclination (a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect)

inclination (an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others)

inclination (that toward which you are inclined to feel a liking)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bend or turn (one's ear) towards a speaker in order to listen well

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

He inclined his ear to the wise old man

Hypernyms (to "incline" is one way to...):

hear; listen; take heed (listen and pay attention)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

inclining (the act of inclining; bending forward)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lower or bend (the head or upper body), as in a nod or bow

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

She inclined her head to the student

Hypernyms (to "incline" is one way to...):

bring down; get down; let down; lower; take down (move something or somebody to a lower position)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

inclination; inclining (the act of inclining; bending forward)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be at an angle

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

incline; pitch; slope

Context example:

The terrain sloped down

Hypernyms (to "incline" is one way to...):

angle; lean; slant; tilt; tip (to incline or bend from a vertical position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "incline"):

ascend (slope upwards)

stoop (sag, bend, bend over or down)

fall (slope downward)

climb (slope upward)

dip (slope downwards)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

inclination (the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical)

inclination ((geometry) the angle formed by the x-axis and a given line (measured counterclockwise from the positive half of the x-axis))

inclination ((astronomy) the angle between the plane of the orbit and the plane of the ecliptic stated in degrees)

inclination ((physics) the angle that a magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon)

incline (an inclined surface connecting two levels)

incline (an elevated geological formation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Feel favorably disposed or willing

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

She inclines to the view that people should be allowed to expres their religious beliefs

Hypernyms (to "incline" is one way to...):

experience; feel (undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude or belief

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

dispose; incline

Context example:

Their language inclines us to believe them

Hypernyms (to "incline" is one way to...):

determine; influence; mold; regulate; shape (shape or influence; give direction to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "incline"):

predispose (make susceptible)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

inclination (an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others)

inclination (that toward which you are inclined to feel a liking)

 Context examples 

I am half inclined to think, Fanny, that you do not quite know your own feelings.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I don't mean one of those two-pages-to-the-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner diaries, but a sort of journal which I can write in whenever I feel inclined.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Naturally, we was both of us inclined to give such a subject a wide berth.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I am inclined to the latter way of accounting for it.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“Yes, some of us are a little too much inclined to be cock-sure, Mr. Holmes,” said Lestrade.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He drank more than ever, and he was less inclined for any sort of society.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yet was the bear not inclined to fight, for he turned away and made off slowly over the ice.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

This lane inclined up-hill all the way to Hay; having reached the middle, I sat down on a stile which led thence into a field.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

They were inclined, within limits, to let him do what he liked, but they drew the line pretty sharply at us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Everyone seemed rather out of sorts and inclined to croak.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)