Definition: prostrate

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

prostrate
     adj 1: stretched out and lying at full length along the ground;
            "found himself lying flat on the floor" [syn: flat]
     2: lying face downward [syn: prone]
     v 1: get into a prostrate position, as in submission [syn: bow
          down]
     2: render helpless or defenseless; "They prostrated the enemy"
     3: throw down flat, as on the ground; "She prostrated herself
        with frustration"

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Prostrate \Pros"trate\, a. [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.
Prostrate \Pros"trate\, v. 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.