prostration

Synonyms

overthrown, demolition, destruction, depression, exhaustion,#n/a, [see _depression]

Pros*tra"tion, n. Etym: [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. "A sudden prostration of strength." Arbuthnot. 4. (Med.) Defn: 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.

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