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Webster 1913 Edition


Prostrate

Pros′trate

,
Adj.
[L.
prostratus
, p. p. of
prosternere
to prostrate;
pro
before, forward +
sternere
to spread out, throw down. See
Stratum
.]
1.
Lying at length, or with the body extended on the ground or other surface; stretched out;
as, to sleep
prostrate
.
Elyot.
Groveling and
prostrate
on yon lake of fire.
Milton.
2.
Lying at mercy, as a supplicant.
Dryden.
3.
Lying in a humble, lowly, or suppliant posture.
Prostrate fall
Before him reverent, and there confess
Humbly our faults.
Milton.
4.
(Bot.)
Trailing on the ground; procumbent.

Pros′trate

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Prostrated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Prostrating
.]
1.
To lay fiat; to throw down; to level; to fell;
as, to
prostrate
the body; to
prostrate
trees or plants.
Evelyn.
2.
to overthrow; to demolish; to destroy; to deprive of efficiency; to ruin;
as, to
prostrate
a village; to
prostrate
a government; to
prostrate
law or justice.
3.
To throw down, or cause to fall in humility or adoration; to cause to bow in humble reverence; used reflexively;
as, he
prostrated
himself
.
Milman.
4.
To cause to sink totally; to deprive of strength; to reduce;
as, a person
prostrated
by fever
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Prostrate

PROS'TRATE

,
Adj.
[L. prostratus, from prosterno, to lay flat; pro and sterno.]
1.
Lying at length, or with the body extended on the ground or other surface.
Groveling and prostrate on yon lake of fire.
2.
Lying at mercy, as a supplicant.
3.
Lying in the posture of humility of adoration.

PROS'TRATE

,
Verb.
T.
To lay flat; to throw down; as, to prostrate the body; to prostrate trees or plants.
1.
To throw down; to overthrow; to demolish; to ruin; as, to prostrate a village; to prostrate a government; to prostrate law or justice; to prostrate the honor of a nation.
2.
To prostrate one's self, to throw one's self down or to fall in humility or adoration.
3.
To bow in humble reverence.
4.
To sink totally; to reduce; as, to prostrate strength.

Definition 2024


prostrate

prostrate

See also: prostate

English

Adjective

prostrate (not comparable)

  1. Lying flat, facedown.
  2. Emotionally devastated.
    I told him you was prostrate with grief. — Mammy to Scarlett, Gone With the Wind.
  3. Physically incapacitated from environmental exposure or debilitating disease.
    He was prostrate from the extreme heat.
  4. (botany) Trailing on the ground; procumbent.

Antonyms

  • (lying flat, facedown): supine

Translations

Verb

prostrate (third-person singular simple present prostrates, present participle prostrating, simple past and past participle prostrated)

  1. (Often reflexive) To lie flat or facedown.
  2. To throw oneself down in submission (also figuratively).
  3. To cause to lie down, to flatten; (figuratively) to overcome or overpower.

Usage notes

  • Prostrate and prostate are often confused, in spelling if not in meaning.

Translations

Related terms

See also


Italian

Verb

prostrate

  1. second-person plural present indicative of prostrare
  2. second-person plural imperative of prostrare
  3. feminine plural of prostrato

Latin

Participle

prōstrāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of prōstrātus