Donrono's question on "Agotábanse"

[donrono]

Hola,

Estoy tratando de encontrar la definicion de la palabra agotabanse.

Gracias,

donrono

[Perikles]

Hello: I reckon that is 3rd plural imperfect of agotarse to be used up, exhausted:

they were wearing themselves out

we need a bit more context.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Perikles is right.
"Agotábanse" is a conjugated form of "agotar", in a pronominal form ("agotarse").
It's the same as "(ellos) se agotaban".
"Agotar" has many meanings, so more context will certainly help.

[JPablo]

Hola, Donrono, bienvenido.
I agree with the above answers. (The word, out of context, sounds a little bit dated, as if an old historian talking about "soldiers who would become exhausted..." or something of the sort.) Of course, I may be completely off the mark. That's why a bit of context, or just the sentence were you found this word, will assist us... so as to be able to help you!

[donrono]

Hello,

Thanks for all your responses. I ran across this word in a poem by Javier Heraud.
Here's the excerpt:
"los trenes aún
pasaban los rieles,
los barcos naufragaban
tarde y noche
muchos peces
agotabanse en el mar."

don rono

[JPablo]

Hello Don Rono,
I found the full poem by Javier Heraud googling it... and while it is a bit cryptic for me... seems that the idea of "becoming exhausted"... or that the "fish were wearing themselves out" is what seems to convey.
"Agotarse" means to "tire out" "wear out" so it seems like the fishes were going back and forth too much, to the point of exhaustion.

It could also probably be understood in the sense of "the sea was 'running out' of fish"... but that sounds a bit more strained... although possible.

Hope that helps.

[donrono]

I would agree with the fish being exhausted especially when you look at the context of the preciding lines. Thanks for your help.

Sorry, I had misspelled the word in the previous post. Thanks for everyone's help.