browse words by letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
supine |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Supine \Su*pine"\, a. [L. supinus, akin to sub under super above. Cf {Sub-}, {Super-}.] 1. Lying on the back or with the face upward; -- opposed to prone. 2. Leaning backward, or inclining with exposure to the sun; sloping; inclined. If the vine On rising ground be placed, or hills supine. --Dryden. 3. Negligent; heedless; indolent; listless. He became pusillanimous and supine, and openly exposed to any temptation. --Woodward. Syn: Negligent; heedless; indolent; thoughtless; inattentive; listless; careless; drowsy. -- {Su*pine"ly}, adv -- {Su*pine"ness}, n. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Supine \Su"pine\, n. [L. supinum (sc. verbum), from supinus bent or thrown backward, perhaps so called because although furnished with substantive case endings, it rests or falls back as it were on the verb: cf F. supin.] (Lat. Gram.) A verbal noun or (according to C.F.Becker), a case of the infinitive mood ending in -um and -u, that in -um being sometimes called the former supine, and that in -u the latter supine. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: supine adj 1: lying face upward [syn: {resupine}] 2: offering no resistance; "resistless hostages"; "No other colony showed such supine, selfish helplessness in allowing her own border citizens to be mercilessly harried"- Theodore Roosevelt [syn: {resistless}, {unresisting}]
more about supine
This work is licensed under a
