fetal position
noun
: a position (as of a sleeping person) in which the body lies curled up on one side with the arms and legs drawn up and the head bowed forward and which is assumed in some forms of psychic regression
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web When Democrats candidly assess the party’s prospects for November, their responses range from bad to awful to curled up and whimpering in a fetal position. 
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2022 Walls was found severely injured, bleeding, and unconscious in a fetal position on the floor. Eilon Caspi, STAT, 30 Nov. 2021 The Boulder man was lying in a fetal position next to her. Bob Sandrick, cleveland, 16 June 2022 Michael Chaille of Ghost Ride Productions — which has made haunted-house props from casts of real people for 22 years — once heard from an attraction that its visitors got concerned for a woman curled into a fetal position on the floor. Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2022 But all the while, the pope was curled up in a fetal position on his bed, according to Magee, broken by even modest adversity. Washington Post, 7 Dec. 2021 The 49ers’ Charles Haley was pressuring him from the right side, but had been pushed behind and around Everett — who went into the fetal position with the ball in his hands. Michael Lerseth, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Jan. 2022 Lie on your side with your knees curled up against your chest (in a fetal position). Andrew Simmons, Outside Online, 23 Sep. 2019 Stangel hit Spiers seven or eight times with a metal baton, including five times while the man was on the ground in the fetal position, according to the statement. Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2022 See More
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2022 Walls was found severely injured, bleeding, and unconscious in a fetal position on the floor. Eilon Caspi, STAT, 30 Nov. 2021 The Boulder man was lying in a fetal position next to her. Bob Sandrick, cleveland, 16 June 2022 Michael Chaille of Ghost Ride Productions — which has made haunted-house props from casts of real people for 22 years — once heard from an attraction that its visitors got concerned for a woman curled into a fetal position on the floor. Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2022 But all the while, the pope was curled up in a fetal position on his bed, according to Magee, broken by even modest adversity. Washington Post, 7 Dec. 2021 The 49ers’ Charles Haley was pressuring him from the right side, but had been pushed behind and around Everett — who went into the fetal position with the ball in his hands. Michael Lerseth, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Jan. 2022 Lie on your side with your knees curled up against your chest (in a fetal position). Andrew Simmons, Outside Online, 23 Sep. 2019 Stangel hit Spiers seven or eight times with a metal baton, including five times while the man was on the ground in the fetal position, according to the statement. Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1887, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
fetal position
noun
: a position (as of a sleeping person) in which the body lies curled up on one side with the arms and legs drawn up toward the chest and the head is bowed forward and which is assumed in some forms of psychological regression