Both Uses of
incumbent
in
A Tale of Two Cities
- But, by this time she trembled under such strong emotion, and her face expressed such deep anxiety, and, above all, such dread and terror, that Mr. Lorry felt it incumbent on him to speak a word or two of reassurance.†
Chpt 1.5
- It clearly being incumbent on some one to say, "Much better," Mr. Lorry said it; perhaps not quite disinterestedly, but with the interested object of squeezing himself back again.†
Chpt 2.4 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(incumbent as in: the incumbent governor) the person who currently holds an official position
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(2)
(incumbent as in: incumbent upon her to) necessary (for someone) as a duty or responsibility
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely (and generally archaically) "incumbent" can also mean resting, leaning, or bent downward. For example:- "two incumbent figures, gracefully leaning upon it"
- "the incumbent geological formation"
- "the incumbent load"
- "the bird's incumbent toe"