1.1inclination for/to/towardAn interest in or liking for (something)
‘Burger King and Wendy's didn't show any inclination to jump into a price war with McDonald's’
‘The various publics, having other interests or no inclination toward foreign matters short of war, tended toward apathy.’
‘Through her I have satisfied many inclinations to revenge.’
‘And the image of ordinary, decent boys who showed no inclinations towards extremism and violence began to crumble.’
‘Some have inclinations towards activism without ever having really been politicized.’
‘What I certainly don't feel is guilty about the fact that I have no inclination to watch.’
‘Much of this, I gladly confide, derives from my lifelong inclination for historical geography.’
‘Her first inclination was to decline, but before she knew what she was doing she decided that she would accept.’
‘Still, he is a bit raw and immature, and he showed no inclination to complete college.’
‘Most people don't have the time or inclination to evaluate everything they are told.’
‘Either way, if I look at them at all, my inclination to read more than a few lines is heavily influenced by their grasp of, say, punctuation.’
‘One of his more obvious characteristics is his inclination towards exaggeration.’
‘An inclination toward classical art and, most likely, the residual Protestantism of her Canadian-Scottish heritage were also evident.’
‘‘The refugees and asylum seekers are generally law-abiding and educated and have no inclination towards crime,’ he said.’
‘The second inconsistency is found in Calvin's insistence that the fallen will retains neither power to choose between good and evil nor any inclination for goodness.’
‘But an inclination for music was not his only love, he also had a passion for film.’
liking, penchant, partiality, preference, appetite, fancy, fondness, affection, love
‘Vicinal faces are typically only hundredths of one degree in inclination from the main crystal face on which they form.’
‘An inclination of 0 degrees would mean the orbit is perfectly aligned with Earth's orbital plane.’
‘Slope inclination and aspect were recorded at several locations within each stand.’
‘The great diversity of plants in the formation is due to local variation in soil conditions, topography, slope inclination and resultant microclimates.’
‘The plot was located on a north-west facing slope with an inclination of about 20° and an elevation range of 130 m from the lowest to the highest point.’
2.1The action of inclining the body or head.
‘the questioner's inclination of his head’
‘That most people walk in an ungraceful, ungainly and awkward manner with a forward inclination of the body does not mean that it is the normal way of walking.’
‘A slight inclination of Roxy's head indicated to Helen that she knew about her estrangement from Tim.’
‘A slight inclination of Alvito's head was all the acknowledgement this pledge received.’
‘The third possible explanation for the shallow inclination of the high temperature component of magnetization is that the dykes were rotated about horizontal axes after magnetization.’
‘The higher coercivity component has a inclination that is steeper than expected and a NW declination.’
‘This component has both reversed and normal polarity, with an average declination of 320 and an inclination of -13 deg.’
3The angle at which a straight line or plane is inclined to another.
‘Dichroic ratios R, order parameter S, and inclination angle between membrane plans and diglucosamine ring plane.’
‘For example, it is likely that the angle of inclination of the pectoral fin base constrains the range of directions in which force may be applied on the fluid during swimming.’
‘For example, at each location on the globe, the geomagnetic field lines intersect the Earth's surface at a specific angle of inclination.’
‘Previous workers have examined the functional significance of variation in the angle of inclination of the fin base relative to the longitudinal axis of the body.’
‘The first design trend we examine here is in the orientation of the pectoral fin base, defined externally as the angle of inclination of the insertion of the pectoral fin on the body.’
‘The transmembrane helix of subunit VIIc changes its angle of inclination midway through the helix.’
‘We also recorded terrain inclination angle, observer distance, time of day, date and year.’
3.1Astronomy The angle between the orbital plane of a planet, comet, etc. and the ecliptic, or between the orbital plane of a satellite and the equatorial plane of its primary.
‘cometary orbits vary widely in inclination’
‘Because of the Mercury's high orbital inclination, it can be seen crossing the disk of the sun only rarely.’
‘From that ellipse one can, in principle, determine the inclination of the planet's orbital plane.’
‘He's based this idea on a study of the angle, or inclination, of asteroid orbits.’
‘First, the relative inclination of the two orbits means their paths do not intersect.’
‘The orbit plane inclination is from 55 to 60 degrees, which gives good coverage of latitudes up to 75 degrees north.’
3.2Astronomy The angle between the axis of an astronomical object and a fixed reference angle.
‘‘Some scientists believe that the monarchs sense the inclination of the earth by the changing autumn light,’ he says.’
‘He also hypothesized that the Mid-Paleogene cooling resulted from a sudden shift in the angle of inclination of the Earth's axis of rotation.’
‘The most plausible conclusion is that the inclination of Jupiter's axis is automatically changing, as we know the Earth's has often done.’
Origin
Late Middle English from Latin inclinatio(n-), from inclinare ‘bend towards’ (see incline).
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