Search Result for "prostration": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (3)

1. an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion;
- Example: "the commander's prostration demoralized his men"
[syn: collapse, prostration]

2. abject submission; the emotional equivalent of prostrating your body;

3. the act of assuming a prostrate position;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Prostration \Pros*tra"tion\, n. [L. prostratio: cf. F. prostration.] 1. The act of prostrating, throwing down, or laying fiat; as, the prostration of the body. [1913 Webster] 2. The act of falling down, or of bowing in humility or adoration; primarily, the act of falling on the face, but usually applied to kneeling or bowing in reverence and worship. [1913 Webster] A greater prostration of reason than of body. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. The condition of being prostrate; great depression; lowness; dejection; as, a postration of spirits. "A sudden prostration of strength." --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster] 4. (Med.) A latent, not an exhausted, state of the vital energies; great oppression of natural strength and vigor. [1913 Webster] Note: Prostration, in its medical use, is analogous to the state of a spring lying under such a weight that it is incapable of action; while exhaustion is analogous to the state of a spring deprived of its elastic powers. The word, however, is often used to denote any great depression of the vital powers. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

prostration n 1: an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion; "the commander's prostration demoralized his men" [syn: collapse, prostration] 2: abject submission; the emotional equivalent of prostrating your body 3: the act of assuming a prostrate position