noun
Meaning 1
A slope.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- To reach the building, we had to climb a steep incline.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
incline
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ɪnˈklaɪn/
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ĭn'klīn
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/ˈɪn.klaɪn/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɪnklaɪn
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ĭnklīn'
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -aɪn
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CMU ARPABET: IH2 N K L AY1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: IH1 N K L AY0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A portal of a subway tunnel.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- the Pleasant Street Incline
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To bend or move (something) out of a given plane or direction, often the horizontal or vertical.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- He had to incline his body against the gusts to avoid being blown down in the storm.
- The people following the coffin inclined their heads in grief.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To slope.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
- Over the centuries the wind made the walls of the farmhouse incline.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Qualifier: chiefly passive voice
Examples
- He inclines to believe anything he reads in the newspapers.
- I'm inclined to give up smoking after hearing of the risks to my health.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dispose
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
an inclined surface connecting two levels
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ramp
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: inclined plane
Narrower terms: ski jump
noun
Meaning 7
an elevated geological formation
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he climbed the steep slope
- the house was built on the side of a mountain
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: slope, side
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: geological formation, formation
Narrower terms: ascent, acclivity, rise, raise, climb, upgrade, bank, cant, camber, canyonside, coast, descent, declivity, fall, decline, declination, declension, downslope, escarpment, scarp, hillside, mountainside, versant, piedmont, ski slope
verb
Meaning 8
make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude or belief
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Their language inclines us to believe them
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dispose
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: determine, shape, mold, influence, regulate
Narrower terms: predispose
verb
Meaning 9
feel favorably disposed or willing
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- She inclines to the view that people should be allowed to expres their religious beliefs
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: feel, experience
verb
Meaning 10
be at an angle
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The terrain sloped down
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: slope, pitch
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: lean, tilt, tip, slant, angle
Narrower terms: ascend, stoop, fall, climb, dip
verb
Meaning 11
lower or bend (the head or upper body), as in a nod or bow
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- She inclined her head to the student
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: lower, take down, let down, get down, bring down
verb
Meaning 12
bend or turn (one's ear) towards a speaker in order to listen well
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- He inclined his ear to the wise old man
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: listen, hear, take heed
verb
Meaning 13
have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- She tends to be nervous before her lectures
- These dresses run small
- He inclined to corpulence
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: tend, be given, lean, run
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: be
Narrower terms: take kindly to, suffer, gravitate
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- Proto-Indo-European *-éyti Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-der. Proto-Italic *kleināō Latin clīnō Latin inclīnāre Old French enclinerbor. Middle English enclinen English incline From Middle English enclinen, from Old French encliner (modern incliner), from Latin inclīnō (“incline, tilt”), from in- + clīnō (compare -cline), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean).
Across languages
Translations
60 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Azerbaijani: əydəm — slope
- Bulgarian: наклон (naklon) — slope
- Czech: sráz — slope
- Czech: svah — slope
- German: Neigung — slope
- German: Anstieg — slope
- German: Gefälle — slope
- Greek: κεκλιμένο επίπεδο (kekliméno epípedo) — slope
- Ancient Greek: κλίμα (klíma) — slope
- Hungarian: lejtő — slope
- Latin: clīvus — slope
- Māori: pānaunau — slope
- Māori: pānakitanga — slope
- Russian: накло́н (naklón) — slope
- Russian: укло́н (uklón) — slope
- Russian: скат (skat) — slope
- Russian: склон (sklon) — slope
- Telugu: ఏటవాలు (ēṭavālu) — slope
- Ukrainian: на́хил (náxyl) — slope
- Ukrainian: схил (sxyl) — slope
- Bulgarian: накланям (naklanjam) — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Catalan: inclinar — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Czech: sklopit — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Czech: ohnout — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Czech: naklonit — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- German: neigen — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Japanese: 傾ける (karamukeru) — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Latgalian: līkt — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Latvian: liekt — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Norwegian: inklinere — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Old English: būgan — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Portuguese: inclinar — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Quechua: chinruykachiy — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Romanian: apleca — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Russian: наклоня́ть (naklonjátʹ) — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Russian: наклони́ть (naklonítʹ) — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Lower Sorbian: chyliś — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Telugu: వాలుట (vāluṭa) — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Ottoman Turkish: اكمك (eğmek) — bend (something) out of a given plane or direction
- Bulgarian: накланям се (naklanjam se) — slope
- German: neigen — slope
- Gothic: 𐌷𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (hneiwan) — slope
- Indonesian: miring — slope
- Japanese: 坂 (saka) — slope
- Japanese: 傾斜 (keisha) — slope
- Central Kurdish: ھەوراز (hewraz) — slope
- Māori: pānanaki — slope
- Māori: pānaki — slope
- Māori: uataha — slope
- Portuguese: inclinar — slope
- Lower Sorbian: chyliś — slope
- Sundanese: sempong — slope
- Bulgarian: клоня (klonja) — to tend to do or believe something
- Catalan: inclinar — to tend to do or believe something
- Czech: tíhnout — to tend to do or believe something
- Czech: přiklánět se — to tend to do or believe something
- Dutch: neigen — to tend to do or believe something
- German: neigen — to tend to do or believe something
- Portuguese: tender — to tend to do or believe something
- Telugu: అంగీకరించుట (aṅgīkariñcuṭa) — to tend to do or believe something
Real reading context