PROSTRATE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does prostrate mean? 

• PROSTRATE (adjective)
  The adjective PROSTRATE has 2 senses:

1. stretched out and lying at full length along the ground

2. lying face downward

  Familiarity information: PROSTRATE used as an adjective is rare.

• PROSTRATE (verb)
  The verb PROSTRATE has 3 senses:

1. get into a prostrate position, as in submission

2. render helpless or defenseless

3. throw down flat, as on the ground

  Familiarity information: PROSTRATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROSTRATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stretched out and lying at full length along the ground

Synonyms:

flat; prostrate

Context example:

found himself lying flat on the floor

Similar:

unerect (not upright in position or posture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lying face downward

Synonyms:

prone; prostrate

Similar:

unerect (not upright in position or posture)

• PROSTRATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they prostrate    ... he / she / it prostrates   
Past simple: prostrated   
Past participle: prostrated   
-ing form: prostrating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get into a prostrate position, as in submission

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bow down; prostrate

Hypernyms (to "prostrate" is one way to...):

lie; lie down (assume a reclining position)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

prostration (the act of assuming a prostrate position)

prostration (abject submission; the emotional equivalent of prostrating your body)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Render helpless or defenseless

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

They prostrated the enemy

Hypernyms (to "prostrate" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

prostration (abject submission; the emotional equivalent of prostrating your body)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Throw down flat, as on the ground

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

She prostrated herself with frustration

Hypernyms (to "prostrate" is one way to...):

throw (propel through the air)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

prostration (the act of assuming a prostrate position)

 Context examples 

It was really shock, rather than any injury, which had prostrated me, and in half-an-hour, in spite of aching head and stiff neck, I was sitting up and ready for anything.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was a blow: but I did not let it prostrate me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

We had carried the prostrate body to the sofa.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Instantly five of them threw up their hands and fell prostrate upon the deck.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This failed to drive Buck from his prostrate rival, and the butt of the whip was brought into play.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Hans hurled himself upon the prostrate man, striking madly with his fists.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The two Cunninghams were bending over the prostrate figure of Sherlock Holmes, the younger clutching his throat with both hands, while the elder seemed to be twisting one of his wrists.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A new burst of crying came upon her now, in which she once more hid her face among the stones, and lay before us, a prostrate image of humiliation and ruin.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

In reality, he never rested, and a weaker body or a less firmly poised brain would have been prostrated in a general break-down.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I saw that my friend was not intent on further effort, and occupied myself binding up my wrist, keeping a wary eye on the prostrate figure all the time.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)