5 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

incumbent

adjective

1: lying or leaning on something else; "an incumbent geological formation"

2: currently holding an office; "the incumbent governor"

noun: the official who holds an office [syn: {officeholder}]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Incumbent \In*cum"bent\, adjective [L. incumbens, -entis, p. pr. of incumbere to lie down upon, press upon; pref. in- in, on + cumbere (in comp.); akin to cubare to lie down. See {Incubate}.]

1. Lying; resting; reclining; recumbent; superimposed; superincumbent.

Two incumbent figures, gracefully leaning upon it. --Sir H. Wotton.

To move the incumbent load they try. --Addison.

2. Lying, resting, or imposed, as a duty or obligation; obligatory; always with on or upon.

All men, truly zealous, will perform those good works that are incumbent on all Christians. --Sprat.

3. (Bot.) Leaning or resting; -- said of anthers when lying on the inner side of the filament, or of cotyledons when the radicle lies against the back of one of them. --Gray.

4. (Zo["o]l.) Bent downwards so that the ends touch, or rest on, something else; as, the incumbent toe of a bird.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Incumbent \In*cum"bent\, noun A person who is in present possession of a benefice or of any office.

The incumbent lieth at the mercy of his patron. --Swift.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

89 Moby Thesaurus words for "incumbent": addressee, artist-in-residence, beetle, beetle-browed, beetling, behooving, benefice-holder, beneficiary, binding, bridging, burdensome, chargeable to, commanding, compulsory, cumbersome, cumbrous, demanding, denizen, dweller, habitant, hirer, holdover, homesteader, house detective, imbricate, impendent, impending, incumbent on, inhabitant, inhabiter, inmate, inpatient, ins, intern, jack-in-office, jutting, lame duck, lapping, leaseholder, lessee, live-in maid, locum tenens, lodger, lowering, lumpish, mandatory, massive, necessary, new broom, obligatory, occupant, occupier, office-bearer, officeholder, official, onerous, oppressive, overarched, overhanging, overhung, overlapping, overlying, paying guest, pending, prescribed, president-elect, projecting, public official, public servant, renter, required, residencer, resident, resident physician, residentiary, resider, roomer, shingled, sojourner, spanning, squatter, sublessee, subtenant, superincumbent, tenant, tenant at sufferance, tenant for life, underlessee, unwieldy

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

INCUMBENT, noun A person of the liveliest interest to the outcumbents.

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