Library / English Dictionary

POSTURE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characteristic way of bearing one's body

Example:

stood with good posture

Synonyms:

bearing; carriage; posture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("posture" is a kind of...):

bodily property (an attribute of the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "posture"):

manner of walking; walk (manner of walking)

slouch (a stooping carriage in standing and walking)

gracefulness (beautiful carriage)

awkwardness; clumsiness (the carriage of someone whose movements and posture are ungainly or inelegant)

Derivation:

postural (of or relating to or involving posture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The arrangement of the body and its limbs

Example:

he assumed an attitude of surrender

Synonyms:

attitude; position; posture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("posture" is a kind of...):

bodily property (an attribute of the body)

Attribute:

erect; upright; vertical (upright in position or posture)

unerect (not upright in position or posture)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "posture"):

tuck ((sports) a bodily position adopted in some sports (such as diving or skiing) in which the knees are bent and the thighs are drawn close to the chest)

stance (standing posture)

sprawl; sprawling (an ungainly posture with arms and legs spread about)

guard (a posture of defence in boxing or fencing)

asana ((Hinduism) a posture or manner of sitting (as in the practice of yoga))

ectopia (abnormal position of a part or organ (especially at the time of birth))

presentation ((obstetrics) position of the fetus in the uterus relative to the birth canal)

pose (a posture assumed by models for photographic or artistic purposes)

missionary position (a position for sexual intercourse; a man and woman lie facing each other with the man on top; so-called because missionaries thought it the proper position for primitive peoples)

lotus position (a sitting position with the legs crossed; used in yoga)

lithotomy position (a position lying on your back with knees bent and thighs apart; assumed for vaginal or rectal examination)

eversion (the position of being turned outward)

decubitus (a reclining position (as in a bed))

ballet position (classical position of the body and especially the feet in ballet)

order arms (a position in the manual of arms; the rifle is held vertically on the right side with the butt on the ground; often used as a command)

Derivation:

postural (of or relating to or involving posture)

posture (assume a posture as for artistic purposes)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Capability in terms of personnel and materiel that affect the capacity to fight a war

Example:

politicians have neglected our military posture

Synonyms:

military capability; military posture; military strength; posture; strength

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("posture" is a kind of...):

capability; capableness (the quality of being capable -- physically or intellectually or legally)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "posture"):

sea power (naval strength)

firepower ((military) the relative capacity for delivering fire on a target)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A rationalized mental attitude

Synonyms:

position; posture; stance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("posture" is a kind of...):

attitude; mental attitude (a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "posture"):

hard line (a firm and uncompromising stance or position)

point of view; stand; standpoint; viewpoint (a mental position from which things are viewed)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Assume a posture as for artistic purposes

Example:

We don't know the woman who posed for Leonardo so often

Synonyms:

model; pose; posture; sit

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "posture" is one way to...):

display; exhibit; expose (to show, make visible or apparent)

Domain category:

art; artistic creation; artistic production (the creation of beautiful or significant things)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "posture"):

ramp (be rampant)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

posture (the arrangement of the body and its limbs)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Behave affectedly or unnaturally in order to impress others

Example:

She postured and made a total fool of herself

Synonyms:

pose; posture

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "posture" is one way to...):

acquit; bear; behave; carry; comport; conduct; deport (behave in a certain manner)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "posture"):

attitudinise; attitudinize (assume certain affected attitudes)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

A group of disorders affecting the development of movement and posture, often accompanied by disturbances of sensation, perception, cognition, and behavior.

(Cerebral Palsy, NCI Thesaurus)

A progressive disorder of the nervous system marked by muscle tremors, muscle rigidity, decreased mobility, stooped posture, slow voluntary movements, and a mask-like facial expression.

(Parkinson's Disease, NCI Dictionary)

Mother cried out in a fright, and struggled up into a sitting posture, and clutched wildly at anything that would help her.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A condition characterized by inactivity, decreased responsiveness to stimuli, and a tendency to maintain an immobile posture.

(Catalepsy, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Syndrome dominated by involuntary, sustained or spasmodic, patterned, and repetitive muscle contractions; frequently causing twisting, flexing or extending, and squeezing movements or abnormal postures.

(Dystonia, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

She had been moved from the posture in which I had first beheld her, and now, as she lay, her head upon her arm and a handkerchief thrown across her face and neck, I might have supposed her asleep.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The more I reflected the more convinced I grew that I was dealing with a case of cerebral disease; and though I dismissed my servants to bed, I loaded an old revolver, that I might be found in some posture of self-defence.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Well, so short had been the interval that when I found my feet again all was in the same posture, the fellow with the red night-cap still half-way over, another still just showing his head above the top of the stockade.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Ere long, I became aware that some one was handling me; lifting me up and supporting me in a sitting posture, and that more tenderly than I had ever been raised or upheld before.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The blunders, the blindness of her own head and heart!—she sat still, she walked about, she tried her own room, she tried the shrubbery—in every place, every posture, she perceived that she had acted most weakly; that she had been imposed on by others in a most mortifying degree; that she had been imposing on herself in a degree yet more mortifying; that she was wretched, and should probably find this day but the beginning of wretchedness.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)