| 释义 |
▪ I. prostrate, a. (n.)|ˈprɒstrət|
[ad. L. prōstrāt-us, pa. pple. of prōstern-ĕre: see prostern.]
1. In strict use, Lying with the face to the ground, in token of submission or humility, as in adoration, worship, or supplication; more loosely, Lying at full length or with the body extended flat (on the ground or other surface), in a horizontal position. Often predicative or quasi-adv. with lie, fall, etc.
a1380Savinian 259 in Hortsm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 97 Prostrat heo fel þen to grounde And preyed to God þus in þat stounde. c1450tr. De Imitatione i. xxv. 36 He fel doun prostrate in his praiers before an auter in þe chirche. 1485Caxton St. Wenefr. 15 Here we lye prostrate for to offre our prayers to god. 1533Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. xxx. (1541) 48 To them, which haue feeble digestion, it is good to slepe prostrate on their bealies. 1642H. More Song Soul i. iii. i, Whiles we on grassie bed did lie prostrate. 1726Swift Gulliver iii. i, Finding us all prostrate upon our faces (for so I gave order) they pinioned us. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles ii. xv, O'er my prostrate kinsman stood The ruthless murderer. 1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile ii. 27 Some lay prostrate, their foreheads touching the ground.
b. Of things usually erect, as trees, walls, pillars, etc.: Levelled with the ground, overthrown.
a1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. ii. vii. 191 Great quantities of subterraneous Woods, lying 10 and 20 Ells below the Superficies of the Ground, prostrate towards the East. 1807Wordsw. Wh. Doe Ryl. vii. 340 The mournful waste Of prostrate altars.
†c. Sometimes const. as pple. = prostrated.
1591Spenser Virg. Gnat 558 For loftie type of honour..is downe in dust prostrate.
2. fig. Laid low in mind or spirit; submissive; overcome, overthrown, powerless.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. ii. 117 Looke gracious on thy prostrate Thrall. 1749Smollett Regicide v. i, Let us avoid the opposite extremes Of negligence supine, and prostrate fear. 1802Wordsw. Sonn., Calais, Ye men of prostrate mind, A seemly reverence may be paid to power. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 278 The violent reaction which had laid the Whig party prostrate. 1867Smiles Huguenots Eng. xvii. (1880) 294 William III took active steps to restore the prostrate industry of the country.
b. In a state of physical exhaustion or complete weakness; unable to rise or exert oneself.
1871Macduff Mem. Patmos vii. 90 Puts nerve and sinew into the most prostrate arm. 1880J. W. Sherer Conjuror's Daughter, etc. 284 ‘How was she?’ ‘Very prostrate and at this hour feverish’. 1887Sportsman 25 July 2/1 At the present moment we are so ‘prostrate’, that we have not strength enough to go to the treasure chamber.
3. Bot. In its habit of growth, lying flat upon the ground; procumbent.
1776Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 430 Stem prostrate, striking root. Ibid. III. 62 Stem and root-leaves prostrate, longer than the branches. 1836Penny Cycl. VI. 432/1 C[erasus] prostrata, the spreading cherry. A small prostrate bush, found on the sea-coast of Candia. 1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. I. 3 A prostrate stem runs along the ground, and never becomes erect.
b. Closely appressed to the surface; lying flat: as, prostrate hairs or setæ.
B. n. One who is prostrate, or lying flat, as a suppliant, a vanquished foe.
1654Trapp Comm. Job i. 20 The ancient Prophets and holy men were called Nephalim procidentes, or Prostrantes, that is prostrates or Fallers downe. 1676Otway Don Carlos i. i, To lie a Prostrate at her feet. 1691T. Heyrick Misc. Poems 40 'Twill sully all your former glorious Fame To say, You such a Prostrate overcame.
b. = prostrator 2.
a1600Hooker Eccl. Pol. vi. v. §8 Being taken and admitted to the next degree of prostrates, at the feet yet behind the back of that angel representing God, whom the rest saw face to face. a1711Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 77 The Prostrates near the Sacred Desk are plac'd, By Self-humiliations more debas'd.
▪ II. prostrate, v.|ˈprɒstreɪt|
Pa. tense and pple. prostrated; also 6 prostrate.
[f. L. ppl. stem prōstrāt-: see prec. Sense 1 may have arisen out of the reflexive sense 3; but the latter has not been found so early. (Formerly stressed proˈstrate.)]
†1. intr. To become prostrate; to fall down flat before some person or thing, in token of reverence or submission: = sense 3. Obs.
c1400Rule St. Benet, etc. 143 Þan þe nouice sall prostrate downe be-fore þe gree, when ‘Kirieleison’. 1604R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Prostrate, to fall downe flat on the ground. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. x, When I am Lord of the Universe, the sun shall prostrate and adore me! 1755T. Amory Mem. (1769) I. 268 We must even prostrate before the block they call her image.
2. trans. To lay flat on the ground, etc.; to throw down, level with the ground, overthrow (something erect, as a house, a tree, a person).
1483Caxton's Chron. Eng. e viij b, He prostratit mony a M. 1531–2Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 5 To..prostrate and ouerthrowe all suche mylles..lockes..hebbinge weares, and other impedimentes. 1594Spenser Amoretti lvi, A storme, that all things doth prostrate [rime ruinate]. 1692Ray Disc. ii. v. (1732) 232 These Trees..were broken down and prostrated by the force of..tempestuous Winds. 1726Pope Odyss. xix. 581 Heav'n..Shall prostrate to thy sword the Suitor-crowd. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxi. 213 They tied the dogs down..and prostrated themselves to escape being blown off by the violence of the wind. 1878Browning Poets Croisic xxxiv, Pebble from sling Prostrates a giant.
†b. fig. To overthrow (a measure, etc.). Obs. rare.
1642Sir H. Slingsby Diary (1836) 82 My Lord of Newcastle..would not give any new commission unless some just cause was shown to prostrate yt y⊇ King had given.
3. refl. To cast oneself down prostrate; to bow to the ground in reverence or submission.
1530Palsgr. 668/2 So soone as ever he came byfore the sacrament, he prostrate hym selfe with moost hyghe reverence. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 24 The Moores..prostrated and humbled them selues before the sayde great Master. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 49 When they prostrate themselves, that signifies that they adore God. 1732T. Lediard Sethos II. x. 455 Sethos, upon entring, prostrated himself at his feet. 1883Gilmour Mongols xviii. 211 Going the rounds of the sacred place, prostrating himself at every shrine.
4. trans. fig. To lay low, overcome; to make submissive or humble; to reduce to helplessness.
1562Eden Let. 1 Aug. in Decades, etc. (Arb.) p. xliii/1, The greefes of aduerse fortune..dyd so muche prostrate my mynde. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vi. §46 Her Adversaries conceive; had she not been laid there, the happiness of England had been prostrated in the same place. a1711Ken Man. Prayers Wks. (1838) 370 When you read any great mystery recorded in holy writ, you are to prostrate your reason to divine revelation. 1838Thirlwall Greece xxx. IV. 159 It was adverse to any treaty which would not completely prostrate Athens under its rule.
b. To reduce to extreme physical weakness or exhaustion: said of disease, fatigue, and the like.
1829H. Murray N. Amer. II. iii. iii. 368 On calling for a lady, he was told that she was ‘quite prostrated’, which on explanation proved to be ill in bed. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xiii. 145 He appeared exceedingly low and prostrated. 1865Livingstone Zambesi xx. 412 Fever rapidly prostrates the energies.
†5. To lay down at the feet of a person; to submit, present, or offer submissively or reverently. Obs.
1583H. D. Godlie Treat. 4 Being bold in all humilitie to prostrate this little booke before your honour. 1588Cavendish in Beveridge Hist. India (1862) I. i. ix. 210 All which services, with myself, I humbly prostrate at her majestie's feet. 1669Flamsteed in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 87 This I desire I may have the liberty..to prostrate to the most illustrious Royal Society. 1681R. Knox Hist. Ceylon 76 Before them they prostrate Victuals.
†b. To let down, lower to the level or cognizance of. Obs. rare.
a1718Penn Tracts Wks. 1726 I. 605 God never prostrates his Secrets to Minds disobedient to what they do already know.
Hence ˈprostrated ppl. a., ˈprostrating vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1545Joye Exp. Dan. vii. 96 b, A lyon is a cruell beast yf he be exaspered, and gentle yf the man fal downe naked before him; and except it be in great honger he hurteth not siche humble prostrated proyes. 1580Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Prostration, a prostrating, or falling at ones feete. 1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. viii. (1674) 10 By humble prostrating of their service. 1859Cornwallis New World I. 354 That gentleman reported the prostrated hopes of the over-sanguine goldhunters. 1890Athenæum 4 Jan. 17/2 To fight so long and bravely against the prostrating effects of a wasting illness. |