flat on one's back
9
4.0
- idiom
:
tumbado de espaldas
- And at half past 1:00, she was in the hospital... lying flat on her back on the operating table.
- lying flat on his back
- fall flat on his back
- land flat on his back
Examples
-
And surely he could not have spent all that time flat on his back in a hospital bed.
Fiction book (2001) -
After falling off the bike, he landed flat on his back on the grass.
-
But I was in hospital for a year just flat on my back.
-
And they made me stay in my bed, flat on my back, for about six weeks.
-
One day she was walking around with a baby girl... the next she was flat on her back.
-
My mother always slept without a pillow and flat on her back.
Fiction book (2002) -
By that time, Bob was lying flat on his back, so I couldn't see his face.
Fiction book (1998) -
Frantic, he slipped on the ice and landed hard, flat on his back.
Fiction book (1999) -
Monty was lying flat on his back on the sidewalk, his head resting on the curb.
Fiction book (1993) -
The teenage boy lies flat on his back, semi-conscious, his eyelids fluttering, his breathing shallow.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
3
7.4
Lying on the back with the face up
1
7.9
Lying down or leaning back to rest
1
6.1
A person who is on their back with their face up
To lie down and rest, often with the tip turning upward
Lying or leaning back to rest in a comfortable position
Lying down and resting on a surface like a bed or the ground
Lying flat, like a figure shown on a tomb or statue
Antonyms
How Horizontal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'lying with one's back against a surface' is directly compositional from 'flat' (level/even) + locative 'on' + possessive 'one's' + 'back' (rear surface). This straightforward locative image follows normal English grammar and appears in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the component words would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Flat on one's back shows a clear picture: a person is lying completely flat with their back on the ground or a bed and cannot get up easily. That's why it means 'lying down because you are resting, hurt, or sick'.