prostration : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: prostration	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for prostration
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
prostration n an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion; "the commander's prostration demoralized his men" Synonym(s): collapse, prostration abject submission; the emotional equivalent of prostrating your body the act of assuming a prostrate position
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Prostration \Prostra"tion\, n. [L. prostratio: cf. F. prostration.] 1. The act of prostrating, throwing down, or laying fiat; as, the prostration* of the body. 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. A greater prostration of reason than of body. --Shak. 3. The condition of being prostrate; great depression; lowness; dejection; as, a postration of spirits. [bd]A sudden prostration of strength.[b8] --Arbuthnot. 4. (Med.) A latent, not an exhausted, state of the vital energies; great oppression of natural strength and vigor. 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.