incumbent

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: in=cum=bent

CIDE DICTIONARY

incumbent, a. [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.].

•  Lying; resting; reclining; recumbent; superimposed; superincumbent.  [1913 Webster]

  "Two incumbent figures, gracefully leaning upon it."  [1913 Webster]

  "To move the incumbent load they try."  [1913 Webster]
•  Lying, resting, or imposed, as a duty or obligation; obligatory; always with on or upon.  [1913 Webster]

  "All men, truly zealous, will perform those good works that are incumbent on all Christians."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  Bent downwards so that the ends touch, or rest on, something else; as, the incumbent toe of a bird.  [1913 Webster]

incumbent, n. 

 A person who is in present possession of a benefice or of any office.  [1913 Webster]
"The incumbent lieth at the mercy of his patron."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

incumbent, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 (foll. by on, upon) resting as a duty (it is incumbent on you to warn them).
2 (often foll. by on) lying, pressing.
--n. the holder of an office or post, esp. an ecclesiastical benefice.

Etymology

ME f. AL incumbens pres. part. of L incumbere lie upon (as IN-(2), cubare lie)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

incumbent

n. A person of the liveliest interest to the outcumbents.

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

incumbent

Politics

N politics, political science, candidacy, campaign, campaigning, electioneering, partisanship, ideology, factionalism, election, poll, ballot, vote, referendum, recall, initiative, voice, suffrage, plumper, cumulative vote, plebiscitum, plebiscite, vox populi, electioneering, voting, elective franchise, straight ticket, opinion poll, popularity poll, issue, opinion, stand, position, program, platform, party line, democracy, republicanism, communism, statism, state socialism, socialism, conservatism, toryism, liberalism, whigism, theocracy, constitutional monarchy, party, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Socialist Party, Communist Party, Federalist Party, Bull Moose Party, Abolitionist Party, Christian Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party, National Socialist Worker's Party, Nazi Party, Liberal Party, Labor Party, Conservative Party, ticket, slate, politician activist, candidate, aspirant, hopeful, office-seeker, front- runner, dark horse, long shot, shoo-in, supporter, backer, political worker, campaign worker, lobbyist, contributor, party hack, ward heeler, regional candidate, favorite son, running mate, stalking horse, perpetual candidate, political animal, political contribution, campaign contribution, political action committee, PAC, political district, electoral division, electoral district, bailiwick, electorate, constituents, get-out-the-vote campaign, political education, negative campaigning, dirty politics, smear campaign, also-ran, loser, has-been, office holder, official, occupant of a position, public servant, incumbent, winner, political, partisan, Money is the mother's milk of politics.

Inhabitant

N inhabitant, resident, residentiary, dweller, indweller, addressee, occupier, occupant, householder, lodger, inmate, tenant, incumbent, sojourner, locum tenens, commorant, settler, squatter, backwoodsman, colonist, islander, denizen, citizen, burgher, oppidan, cockney, cit, townsman, burgess, villager, cottager, cottier, cotter, compatriot, backsettler, boarder, hotel keeper, innkeeper, habitant, paying guest, planter, native, indigene, aborigines, autochthones, Englishman, John Bull, newcomer, aboriginal, American, Caledonian, Cambrian, Canadian, Canuck, downeaster, Scot, Scotchman, Hibernian, Irishman, Welshman, Uncle Sam, Yankee, Brother Jonathan, garrison, crew, population, people, colony, settlement, household, mir, indigenous, native, natal, autochthonal, autochthonous, British, English, American, Canadian, Irish, Scotch, Scottish, Welsh, domestic, domiciliated, domiciled, naturalized, vernacular, domesticated, domiciliary, in the occupation of, garrisoned by, occupied by.

Clergy

N clergy, clericals, ministry, priesthood, presbytery, the cloth, the desk, clergyman, divine, ecclesiastic, churchman, priest, presbyter, hierophant, pastor, shepherd, minister, father, father in Christ, padre, abbe, cure, patriarch, reverend, black coat, confessor, dignitaries of the church, ecclesiarch, hierarch, ebdomarius, eminence, reverence, elder, primate, metropolitan, archbishop, bishop, prelate, diocesan, suffragan, dean, subdean, archdeacon, prebendary, canon, rural dean, rector, parson, vicar, perpetual curate, residentiary, beneficiary, incumbent, chaplain, curate, deacon, deaconess, preacher, reader, lecturer, capitular, missionary, propagandist, Jesuit, revivalist, field preacher, churchwarden, sidesman, clerk, precentor, choir, almoner, suisse, verger, beadle, sexton, sacristan, acolyth, acolothyst, acolyte, altar boy, chorister, Pope, Papa, pontiff, high priest, cardinal, ancient flamen, flamen, confessor, penitentiary, spiritual director, cenobite, conventual, abbot, prior, monk, friar, lay brother, beadsman, mendicant, pilgrim, palmer, canon regular, canon secular, Franciscan, Friars minor, Minorites, Observant, Capuchin, Dominican, Carmelite, Augustinian, Gilbertine, Austin Friars, Black Friars, White Friars, Gray Friars, Crossed Friars, Crutched Friars, Bonhomme, Carthusian, Benedictine, Cistercian, Trappist, Cluniac, Premonstatensian, Maturine, Templar, Hospitaler, Bernardine, Lorettine, pillarist, stylite, abbess, prioress, canoness, religieuse, nun, novice, postulant, prophet, priest, high priest, Levite, Rabbi, Rabbin, Rebbe, scribe, mullah, muezzin, ayatollah, ulema, imaum, imam, sheik, sufi, kahin, kassis, mufti, hadji, dervish, fakir, faquir, brahmin, guru, kaziaskier, poonghie, sanyasi, druid, bonze, santon, abdal, Lama, talapoin, caloyer, the Reverend, the very Reverend, the Right Reverend, ordained, in orders, called to the ministry.

Height

N height, altitude, elevation, eminence, pitch, loftiness, sublimity, tallness, stature, procerity, prominence, colossus, giant, grenadier, giraffe, camelopard, mount, mountain, hill alto, butte, monticle, fell, knap, cape, headland, foreland, promontory, ridge, hog's back, dune, rising ground, vantage ground, down, moor, moorland, Alp, uplands, highlands, heights, knob, loma, pena, picacho, tump, knoll, hummock, hillock, barrow, mound, mole, steeps, bluff, cliff, craig, tor, peak, pike, clough, escarpment, edge, ledge, brae, dizzy height, tower, pillar, column, obelisk, monument, steeple, spire, minaret, campanile, turret, dome, cupola, skyscraper, pole, pikestaff, maypole, flagstaff, top mast, topgallant mast, ceiling, high water, high tide, flood tide, spring tide, altimetry, batophobia, satellite, spy-in-the-sky, high, elevated, eminent, exalted, lofty, tall, gigantic, Patagonian, towering, beetling, soaring, hanging (gardens), elevated, upper, highest, high reaching, insessorial, perching, upland, moorland, hilly, knobby, mountainous, alpine, subalpine, heaven kissing, cloudtopt, cloudcapt, cloudtouching, aerial, overhanging, incumbent, overlying, superincumbent, supernatant, superimposed, prominent, tall as a maypole, tall as a poplar, tall as a steeple, lanky, on high, high up, aloft, up, above, aloof, overhead, airwind, upstairs, abovestairs, in the clouds, on tiptoe, on stilts, on the shoulders of, over head and ears, breast high, over, upwards, from top to bottom, e meglio cader dalle finistre che dal tetto.

Gravity

N gravity, gravitation, weight, heaviness, specific gravity, pondorosity, pressure, load, burden, burthen, ballast, counterpoise, lump of, mass of, weight of, lead, millstone, mountain, Ossa on Pelion, weighing, ponderation, trutination, weights, avoirdupois weight, troy weight, apothecaries' weight, grain, scruple, drachma, ounce, pound, lb, arroba, load, stone, hundredweight, cwt, ton, long ton, metric ton, quintal, carat, pennyweight, tod, gram, centigram, milligram, microgram, kilogram, nanogram, picogram, femtogram, attogram, balance, scale, scales, steelyard, beam, weighbridge, spring balance, piezoelectric balance, analytical balance, two-pan balance, one-pan balance, postal scale, baby scale, statics, weighty, weighing, heavy as lead, ponderous, ponderable, lumpish, lumpy, cumbersome, burdensome, cumbrous, unwieldy, massive, incumbent, superincumbent.