adjective

• 1prone to/to do somethingLikely or liable to suffer from, do, or experience something unpleasant or regrettable.

  ‘farmed fish are prone to disease’

  More example sentences

  • ‘he was written off by many as too injury-prone’
  • ‘Indeed, some people are especially prone to error.’
  • ‘Generally, the link between adrenalin making people more prone to heart failure is not well established.’
  • ‘Passive smoking affects non-smokers and makes them more prone to respiratory infections.’
  • ‘His job relates to interacting with the public and to make the area less prone to crime.’
  • ‘Of the tasks involved in our cases, lymph node searches appear to be especially prone to scalpel injuries.’
  • ‘The devices are meant to make voting easier, more efficient and less prone to error.’
  • ‘Could people who inherit athletic ability also be somehow genetically prone to the disease?’
  • ‘He is, however, also particularly prone to exaggeration, which may make others think of him as ridiculous.’
  • ‘Some of the children became prone to violent outbursts, irritability, nightmares, and insomnia.’
  • ‘The back, neck, and wrists are the most prone to injury, Chan says.’
  • ‘The skin can crack, becoming red and inflamed and leaving it prone to infection.’
  • ‘His mind, so prone to corruption, had been overtaken.’
  • ‘Areas prone to flooding will suffer terribly as sea levels rise over the next century.’
  • ‘She was usually silently stubborn but was on occasion prone to emotional outbursts.’
  • ‘He was an objective conductor, not prone to exaggeration.’
  • ‘First, the rules as written currently are so vague that they are prone to abuse.’
  • ‘The standard cables are fiber optic but are prone to damage by personnel.’
  • ‘Field screens are prone to damage by pests and pathogens.’
  • ‘A man is sometimes very excitable and prone to anger for trivial reasons.’
  • ‘In retrospect, it probably should not have been a surprise that volcanoes are prone to collapse.’

  Synonyms

  susceptible, vulnerable, liable, inclined, given, subject, disposed, predisposed, open

  View synonyms

• 2Lying flat, especially face downwards.

  ‘I was lying prone on a foam mattress’

  More example sentences

  • ‘a prone position’
  • ‘You find yourself lying prone on a cold and dusty floor made of stone.’
  • ‘I soon settled in for some rigorous study, busying myself with my alternately prone and prostrate experiments.’
  • ‘Rod lay prone on the sandbar in the firelight, his back hurting him.’
  • ‘Riding boards in a prone position has been around probably longer than standup surfing.’
  • ‘I was stunned and stayed in a prone position for a minute or so.’
  • ‘Rising from his prone position on the bed, he sat on the edge.’
  • ‘I turned to Jack, who was prone on the floor a few feet away.’
  • ‘Valgus stress testing in the supine position or resisted knee flexion in the prone position may reproduce the pain.’
  • ‘Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure was slightly lower in the prone position.’
  • ‘Thin axial slices through the abdomen are obtained in supine and prone positions.’
  • ‘Two of the remaining 27 patients were never placed in the prone position.’
  • ‘No studies were found that evaluated appropriate interventions for patients placed in the prone position.’
  • ‘The recovery of hamstring muscle strength was poorer when subjects were in the prone position.’

  Synonyms

  face down, lying face down, face downwards, on one's stomach, on one's front

  View synonyms

  1. 2.1technical Denoting the position of the forearm with the palm of the hand facing downwards.
  2. 2.2archaic With a downward slope or direction.