pros·trate

[pros-treyt] verb, pros·trat·ed, pros·trat·ing, adjective
verb (used with object)
1.
to cast (oneself) face down on the ground in humility, submission, or adoration.
2.
to lay flat, as on the ground.
3.
to throw down level with the ground.
4.
to overthrow, overcome, or reduce to helplessness.
5.
to reduce to physical weakness or exhaustion.
adjective
6.
lying flat or at full length, as on the ground.
7.
lying face down on the ground, as in token of humility, submission, or adoration.
8.
overthrown, overcome, or helpless: a country left prostrate by natural disasters.
9.
physically weak or exhausted.
11.
utterly dejected or depressed; disconsolate.
12.
Botany. (of a plant or stem) lying flat on the ground.
00:10
Prostrate is always a great word to know.
So is gametophyte generation. Does it mean:
ovules in flowering plants which are enclosed during pollination
phase in plant life which begins with a spore produced by meiosis

Origin:
1350–1400; (adj.) Middle English prostrat < Latin prōstrātus, past participle of prōsternere to throw prone, equivalent to prō- pro-1 + strā-, variant stem of sternere to stretch out + -tus past participle suffix; (v.) Middle English prostraten, derivative of the adj.

pros·tra·tive [pros-truh-tiv] , adjective
pros·tra·tor, noun
un·pros·trat·ed, adjective

1. prone, prostate, prostrate, supine ; 2. prostate, prostrate.


6. prone, supine, recumbent.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
prostrate
 
adj
1.  lying with the face downwards, as in submission
2.  exhausted physically or emotionally
3.  helpless or defenceless
4.  (of a plant) growing closely along the ground
 
vb
5.  to bow or cast (oneself) down, as in submission
6.  to lay or throw down flat, as on the ground
7.  to make helpless or defenceless
8.  to make exhausted
 
[C14: from Latin prōsternere to throw to the ground, from prō- before + sternere to lay low]
 
pros'tration
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

prostrate
c.1380, from L. prostratus, pp. of prosternere "strew in front, throw down," from pro- "forth" + sternere "to spread out," from PIE base *stere- "to spread, extend, stretch out" (see structure). The verb is attested from c.1400, from the adj. Prostration "action of prostrating
oneself" is from 1526; meaning "weakness, exhaustion, dejection" is from 1651.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
prostrate   (prŏs'trāt')  Pronunciation Key 
Growing flat along the ground. Creeping jenny, pennyroyal, and many species of ivy have a prostrate growth habit.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
He prescribes that the monks prostrate themselves at the end of each psalm in
  the divine office.
It had its origin in the necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce,
  and ruined credit.
Silently, they prostrate themselves before the abbot, while he scribbles down
  their new monastic names.
And equally the vine, if it were not twined round the elm, would lie prostrate
  on the ground.
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