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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Inflect \In*flect"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Inflected}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Inflecting}.] [L. inflectere, inflexum; pref. in- in + flectere to bend. See {Flexible}, and cf. {Inflex}.]
1. To turn from a direct line or course; to bend; to incline, to deflect; to curve; to bow.
Are they [the rays of the sun] not reflected, refracted, and inflected by one and the same principle ? --Sir I. Newton.
2. (Gram.) To vary, as a noun or a verb in its terminations; to decline, as a noun or adjective, or to conjugate, as a verb.
3. To modulate, as the voice.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
inflect
verb
1: change the form of a word in accordance as required by the grammatical rules of the language
2: of one's speech, varying the pitch [syn: {tone}, {modulate}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
41 Moby Thesaurus words for "inflect": analyze, arch, bend, bend back, bow, bracket, conjugate, crook, curl, curve, decline, decurve, deflect, dome, embow, flex, hook, hump, hunch, hyphenate, incurvate, incurve, intonate, loop, mark, modulate, parenthesize, parse, point, punctuate, recurve, reflect, reflex, retroflex, round, sag, swag, sweep, turn, vault, wind
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |