Down

Pronunciation

• IPA: /daÊŠn/
• Rhymes: -aÊŠn

Middle English doun, from Old English dūn, from British Celtic dunon 'hill; hillfort' (compare Welsh din 'hill', Irish dún 'hill, fort'), from Proto-Indo-European *dheue or dhwene. More at town; akin to dune.

Full definition of down

Noun

1. (archaic except in place-names) Hill, rolling grasslandChurchill Downs, Upson Downs (from Auntie Mame, by Patrick Dennis).
• 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 4 scene 1And with each end of thy blue bow dost crownMy bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down
• RayHills afford prospects, as they must needs acknowledge who have been on the downs of Sussex.
• TennysonShe went by dale, and she went by down.
2. (usually plural) Field, especially for 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.
• SandysSeven thousand broad-tailed sheep grazed on his downs.
4. A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war.
• Cook (First Voyage)On the 11th 1771 we run up the channel ... at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the Downs, and went ashore at Deal.

Old English dūne, aphetic form of adūne, from of dūne ("off the hill").

Adverb

adverb

1. (comparable) From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 6, She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.
2. The cat jumped down from the table.
3. (comparable) At a lower place or position.
   His place is farther down the road.
4. South (as south is at the bottom of typical maps).
   I went down to Miami for a conference.
5. (Ireland) Away from the city (even if the location is to the North).
   He went down to Cavan.   down on the farm;  down country
6. Into a state of non-operation.
   The computer has been shut down.   They closed the shop down.   The up escalator is down.
7. (rail transport) The direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.
8. (sentence substitute) Get down.
9. (UK, academia) Away from Oxford or Cambridge.
   He's gone back down to Newcastle for Christmas.
10. From a remoter or higher antiquity.
• D. WebsterVenerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation.
11. From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence.
    to boil down in cookery, or in making decoctions
12. From less to greater detail.
• 2013-08-03, Boundary problems, Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.

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

Derived terms

Preposition

1. From the higher end to the lower of.
   The ball rolled down the hill.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 5, We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.
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

Derived terms

• (from the higher end to the lower) sell down the river

Adjective

1. Depressed, feeling low.So, things got you down?
   Is Rodney Dangerfield giving you no respect?
   Well, bunky, cheer up!
2. On a lower level than before.The stock market is down.Prices are down.
3. 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.
4. (colloquial) With "on", negative about, hostile toEver since Nixon, I've been down on Republicans.
5. (not comparable, US, slang) Relaxed about, accepting of.Are you down to hang out at the mall, Jamal?As long as you're down with helping me pick a phone, Tyrone.
6. (not comparable) Inoperable; out of order; out of service.''The system is down.
7. finished (of a task); defeated or dealt with (of an opponent or obstacle)Two down and three to go. (Two tasks completed and three more still to be done.)
8. Committed to memory; memorised, in phrases like:It's two weeks until opening night and our lines are still not down yet.
9. (obsolete) Downright; absolute; positive.a down denial

Antonyms

• (Depressed) up
• (On a lower level) up
• (Having a lower score) up
• (Inoperable) up

Verb

1. (transitive) To drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty.He downed an ale and ordered another.
2. (transitive) To cause to come down; to knock down or subdue.The storm downed several old trees along the highway.
• Sir Philip SidneyTo down proud hearts.
• Madame D'ArblayI remember how you downed Beauclerk and Hamilton, the wits, once at our house.
3. (transitive, pocket billiards) To put a ball in a pocket; to pot a ball.He downed two balls on the break.
4. (transitive, American football) To bring a play to an end by touching the ball to the ground or while it is on the ground.He downed it at the seven-yard line.
5. (transitive) To write off; to make fun of.
6. (obsolete, intransitive) To go down; to descend.

Synonyms

• (drink) See also

Noun

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, p. 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 in one.
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. An downstairs room of a two story house.She lives in a two-up two-down.

Derived terms

From Old Norse dún.

Noun

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.
• DrydenThe first down begins to shade his face.
4. That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down.
• TennysonWhen in the down I sink my head,
  Sleep, Death's twin brother, times my breath.
• SouthernThou bosom softness, down of all my cares!

Verb

1. (transitive) To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.