伏ふせる

ichidan verb, transitive verb

cast down (eyes); lower (head); point downwards

Transitive: directing one's gaze or head downward, often to avoid eye contact or show deference.

• 彼かれは恥はずかしそうに目めを伏ふせた。

  He cast his eyes down shyly.

• 先せん生せいの前まえで生せい徒とたちは頭あたまを伏ふせた。

  The students lowered their heads in front of the teacher.

ichidan verb, transitive verb, intransitive verb

lie face down; throw oneself to the ground; prostrate oneself

Intransitive or reflexive: lying down with the front of the body down; can be voluntary or forced.

• 地じ震しんのときは机つくえの下したに伏ふせてください。

  During an earthquake, please lie face down under the desk.

• 彼かれは地じ面めんに伏ふせて動うごかなかった。

  He lay flat on the ground and didn't move.

ichidan verb, transitive verb

conceal; hide; keep secret; place in hiding

Transitive: hiding something or someone, often deliberately; can refer to troops, information, or objects.

• 彼かれは真しん実じつを伏ふせたまま話はなした。

  He spoke while keeping the truth hidden.

• 兵へい士したちは森もりの中なかに伏ふせて待まっていた。

  The soldiers lay hidden in the forest, waiting.

ichidan verb, transitive verb

bring down; kill

Transitive, often literary or dramatic: to cause someone to fall or die, sometimes in battle.

• 彼かれは一いち撃げきで敵てきを伏ふせた。

  He brought down the enemy with a single blow.

ichidan verb, intransitive verb

lie down (ill); go to bed (sick); be confined to bed

Only when written 臥せる

Intransitive: lying down due to illness or to sleep; often written 臥せる in this sense.

See also: 伏せる

• 風邪かぜで三みっ日か間かん臥ふせていた。

  I was laid up with a cold for three days.

• 彼かれは病やまいに臥ふせて床とこについている。

  He is bedridden with illness.