downflex

English

Etymology

down- +‎ flex

Verb

downflex (third-person singular simple present downflexes, present participle downflexing, simple past and past participle downflexed)

1. (transitive) To force downward without breaking.
   • 1982, R. A. Scrutton, Dynamics of Passive Margins, →ISBN, page 22:

     Second, the unusually thick (2 to 5 km, Berry and Barr, 1971; Hall, 1973; Grantz et al., 1979) sediment cover in Canada Basin may serve to downflex the underlying oceanic crust and produce a greater than normal state of stress across the adjacent margin which is presently coupled to the seafloor basement.

   • 1990, Arthur Grantz, Leonard Johnson, J. F. Sweeney, The Arctic Ocean region - Issue 1, page 235:

     Some of these sediments may act as locally uncompensated loads that generate the strong observed gravity highs, downflex the surrounding lithosphere to produce the broad flanking gravity lows, and contribute to the stress regime responsible for present offshore seismicity.

   • 2000, Michael V. Sivak, Gastroenterologic Endoscopy - Volume 2, →ISBN, page 851:

     As with other gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures, the image may become redded out or obscure; when lost, withdraw the insertion tube a bit, insufflate, downflex, and search the image for visual landmarks.

2. (intransitive) To bend or stretch downward.
   • 1967, Institute for Oceanography, Collected Reprints-national Ocean Survey, page 305:

     The continent edge would downflex as the ocean floor is loaded by a continental-rise prism.

   • 1974, Daniel N. Lapedes, McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of environmental science, page 114:

     As along the eastern United States, continental shelves commonly acquire a prism of sediments as the continental margin downflexes.

Noun

downflex (plural downflexes)

1. Something that has been forced to curve downward.
   • 1972, Geological Society of America Bulletin - Volume 83, page 1850:

     The southern end of the Rockies plunges gradually along its sharp frontal downflex and passes into the Anton Chico monocline.

   • 1979, Warren Bell Hamilton, Tectonics of the Indonesian region, page 31:

     The axis of a topographic trench of Java-Sumatra type is thus displaced far seaward, about 200 km, from the position of the fundamental downflex in the subducting oceanic plate.

2. Something that can bend in a downward direction.
   • 1991, Antony Milne, The Fate of the Dinosaurs: New Perspectives in Evolution, page 90:

     Dinosaurs, as well as growing taller, developed a more pronounced downflex to lower their heads closer to the ground for better cropping techniques.

Adjective

downflex (not comparable)

1. (economics) Showing flexibility in a downward direction.
   • 1974, Seshadriyengar Lakshmi Nara Simha, Inflation in India, page 77:

     There is no downward flexibility in expenditure and credit levels. But outputs and supplies are downflex.

   • 1976, Vadilal Dagli, Financial Institutions of India, page 49:

     If the real wage rate is not downflex, the pace of adoption of technical change depends upon the elasticity in the savings supply schedule.