English
down
see also: Down
Pronunciation Adverb

down (not comparable)

  1. (comparable) From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.
    The cat jumped down from the table.
  2. (comparable) At a lower or further place or position along a set path.
    His place is farther down the road.
    The company was well down the path to bankruptcy.
    • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., OCLC 580270828 ↗, page 01 ↗:
      It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
  3. South (as south is at the bottom of typical maps).
    I went down to Miami for a conference.
  4. (mostly, Ireland) Away from the city (even if the location is to the North).
    He went down to Cavan.
    down on the farm
    down country
    • 1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year, London: E. Nutt et al., p. 12,
      But then my Servant who I had intended to take down with me [i.e. from London to Bedfordshire], deceiv’d me;
  5. (sport) Towards the opponent's side (in ball-sports).
  6. Into a state of non-operation.
    The computer has been shut down.
    They closed the shop down.
  7. To a subordinate or less prestigious position or rank.
    Smith was sent down to the minors to work on his batting.
    After the incident, Kelly went down to Second Lieutenant.
  8. anchor Adv_rail(rail transport) In the direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.
  9. (sentence substitute, imperative) Get down.
    Down, boy! (such as to direct a dog to stand on four legs from two, or to sit from standing on four legs.)
  10. (UK, academia) Away from Oxford or Cambridge.
    He's gone back down to Newcastle for Christmas.
  11. From a remoter or higher antiquity.
  12. From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence.
  13. From less to greater detail.
  14. (intensifier) Used with verbs to add emphasis to the action of the verb.
    They tamped (down) the asphalt to get a better bond.
  15. Used with verbs to indicate that the action of the verb was carried to some state of completion, rather than being of indefinite duration.
    He boiled the mixture. / He boiled down the mixture.
    He sat waiting. / He sat down and waited.
Antonyms
  • (From a higher position to a lower one) up
  • (At a lower place) up
  • (Ireland: Away from the city) up
  • (Into a state of non-operation) up
  • (Rail transport: direction leading away from the principal terminus) up
  • (in crosswords) across
Translations Translations Translations
  • French: sud
  • Portuguese: embaixo
  • Russian: (where) юг
Translations
  • Portuguese: fora
  • Russian: (where) город
Translations Translations Preposition
  1. From the higher end to the lower of.
    The ball rolled down the hill.
  2. From one end to another of.
    The bus went down the street.
    They walked down the beach holding hands.
Antonyms
  • (From the higher end to the lower) up
Translations Adjective

down

  1. (informal) Sad, unhappy, depressed, feeling low.
  2. Sick or ill.
    He is down with the flu.
  3. At a lower level than before.
    The stock market is down.
    Prices are down.
  4. Having a lower score than an opponent.
    They are down by 3–0 with just 5 minutes to play.
    He was down by a bishop and a pawn after 15 moves.
    At 5–1 down, she produced a great comeback to win the set on a tiebreak.
  5. (baseball, colloquial, following the noun modified) Out.
    Two down and one to go in the bottom of the ninth.
  6. (colloquial) With "on", negative about, hostile to
    Ever since Nixon, I've been down on Republicans.
  7. (not comparable, North America, slang) Comfortable with, accepting of, approachable.
    He's chill enough; he'd probably be totally down with it.
    Are you down to hang out at the mall, Jamal?
    As long as you're down with helping me pick a phone, Tyrone.
  8. (not comparable) Inoperable; out of order; out of service.
    The system is down.
  9. Finished (of a task); defeated or dealt with (of an opponent or obstacle); elapsed (of time). Often coupled with to go (remaining).
    Two down and three to go. (Two tasks completed and three more still to be done.)
    Ten minutes down and nothing's happened yet.
  10. (not comparable, military, police, slang, of a person) Wounded and unable to move normally, or killed.
    We have an officer down outside the suspect's house.
    There are three soldiers down and one walking wounded.
  11. (not comparable, military, aviation, slang, of an aircraft) Mechanically failed, collided, shot down, or otherwise suddenly unable to fly.
    We have a chopper down near the river.
  12. Thoroughly practiced, learned or memorised; mastered. (Compare down pat.)
    It's two weeks until opening night and our lines are still not down yet.
    • 2013, P.J. Hoover, Solstice, ISBN 0765334690, page 355:
      I stay with Chloe the longest. When she's not hanging out at the beach parties, she lives in a Japanese garden complete with an arched bridge spanning a pond filled with koi of varying sizes and shapes. Reeds shoot out of the water, rustling when the fish swim through them, and river-washed stones are sprinkled in a bed of sand. Chloe has this whole new Japanese thing down.
  13. (obsolete) Downright; absolute; positive.
Antonyms
  • (Depressed) up
  • (On a lower level) up
  • (Having a lower score) up
  • (Inoperable) up
Translations Translations Translations
  • German: unten
  • Portuguese: baixo
  • Russian: снижа́ющийся
Translations Verb

down (downs, present participle downing; past and past participle downed)

  1. (transitive) To knock (someone or something) down; to cause to come down, to fell. [from 16th c.]
    The storm downed several old trees along the highway.
  2. (transitive) To lower; to put (something) down. [from 16th c.]
  3. (transitive, figurative) To defeat; to overpower. [from 17th. c.]
  4. (transitive, colloquial) To disparage, to put down. [from 18th c.]
    • 1779, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin 2001, p. 141:
      ‘I remember how you downed Beauclerk and Hamilton, the Wits, once at our House, – when they talked of Ghosts.’
  5. (transitive) Specifically, to cause (something in the air) to fall to the ground; to bring down (with a missile etc.). [from 19th c.]
  6. (intransitive) To go or come down; to descend. [from 18th. c.]
  7. (transitive, colloquial) To drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty. [from 19th c.]
    He downed an ale and ordered another.
  8. (transitive, American football, Canadian football) To render (the ball) dead, typically by touching the ground while in possession. [from 19th c.]
    He downed it at the seven-yard line.
  9. (transitive, golf, pocket billiards) To sink (a ball) into a hole or pocket. [from 20th c.]
    He downed two balls on the break.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Noun

down (plural downs)

  1. A negative aspect; a downer.
    I love almost everything about my job. The only down is that I can't take Saturdays off.
  2. (dated) A grudge (on someone).
    • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, page 10:
      She had a down on me. I don't know what for, I'm sure; because I never said a word.
  3. An act of swallowing an entire drink at once.
  4. (American football) A single play, from the time the ball is snapped (the start) to the time the whistle is blown (the end) when the ball is down, or is downed.
    I bet after the third down, the kicker will replace the quarterback on the field.
  5. (crosswords) A clue whose solution runs vertically in the grid.
    I haven't solved 12 or 13 across, but I've got most of the downs.
  6. A downstairs room of a two-story house.
    She lives in a two-up two-down.
  7. Down payment.
Noun

down

  1. (especially southern England) A hill, especially a chalk hill; rolling grassland
    We went for a walk over the downs.
    The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England.
    • 1610, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, act 4 scene 1
      And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown / My bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down
  2. (usually, in the plural) A field, especially one used for horse racing.
  3. (UK, mostly, in the plural) A tract of poor, sandy, undulating or hilly land near the sea, covered with fine turf which serves chiefly for the grazing of sheep.
Translations Noun

down

  1. Soft, fluffy immature feathers which grow on young birds. Used as insulating material in duvets, sleeping bags and jackets.
  2. (botany) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the seeds of certain plants, such as the thistle.
  3. The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.
  4. That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down.
Translations Translations
  • Italian: pubescenza
Translations Verb

down (downs, present participle downing; past and past participle downed)

  1. (transitive) To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.
Down
Proper noun
  1. One of the six traditional counties of Northern Ireland, usually known as County Down.


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