down
Part of speech: adv
prep
adj
verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: American-football
academia
aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
ball-games
baseball
biology
business
cricket
engineering
football
gambling
games
golf
government
hobbies
law-enforcement
lifestyle
medicine
military
natural-sciences
pathology
physical-sciences
pocket-billiards
politics
rail-transport
railways
scholarly
sciences
sports
transport
veterinary
war
zoology
Etymology: Etymology tree
Old English of-
Proto-Germanic *dūnaz?
Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-
Proto-Indo-European *-nós
Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós?
Proto-Celtic *dūnomder.?
Proto-West Germanic *dūnā
Old English dūne
Old English ofdūne
Old English adūne
Old English dūne
Middle English doun
English down
From Middle English doun, doune (“down”), from Old English dūne (“down”), aphetic form of adūne (“down, downward”), from earlier ofdūne (“down”, literally “off the hill”), from of (“of, off of”) + dūn (“hill, mount, dune, down”). More at Etymology 2 below. For the development from directional phrases to prepositions, compare Old Frisian dene (“down”, adverb, literally “(to the) floor”), Middle Low German dāle (“down, downwards”, literally “(in/to the) dale/valley”), whence German Low German dal (“down”). Compare also Saterland Frisian deel (“down”, literally “to/into the dale”), West Frisian del (“down”). Cognate with Scots doon (“down”).
Inflected forms:
form: further down
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: farther down
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: furthest down
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: farthest down
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: doon
pos: adv
tags: alternative
Northumbria
form: doon
pos: prep
tags: alternative
Northumbria
form: more down
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most down
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: doon
pos: adj
tags: alternative
Northumbria
form: downs
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: downing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: downed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: downed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: doon
pos: verb
tags: alternative
Northumbria
form: downs
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: doon
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Northumbria
Senses:
gloss: From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.
pos: adv
tags: comparable
not-comparable
usually
examples: The cat jumped down from the table.
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.
To her humiliation Jessamy found there were tears trickling down her cheeks.
Through the open front door ran Jessamy, down the steps to where Kitto was sitting at the bottom with the pram beside him.
gloss: To or towards what is considered the bottom of something, irrespective of whether this is presently physically lower.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: Go down to the bottom of the page.
As I lay on my back, a pain shot down from my neck to my waist.
gloss: At a lower or further place or position along a set path.
pos: adv
tags: comparable
not-comparable
usually
examples: His place is farther down the road.
The company was well down the path to bankruptcy.
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.
gloss: To the south (as south is at the bottom of typical maps).
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: I went down to Miami for a conference.
gloss: Away from the city (regardless of direction).
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: He went down to Cavan.
down on the farm
down to the 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;
gloss: At or towards any place that is visualised as 'down' by virtue of local features or local convention, or arbitrarily, irrespective of direction or elevation change.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: She lives down by the park.
gloss: Forward, straight ahead.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: At the first intersection turn left and walk down, then turn right.
gloss: In the direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
gloss: Away from Oxford or Cambridge.
pos: adv
tags: UK
dated
not-comparable
usually
examples: He's gone back down to Newcastle for Christmas.
gloss: To a subordinate or less prestigious position or rank.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: Smith was sent down to the minors to work on his batting.
After the incident, Kelly went down to Second Lieutenant.
gloss: Towards the opponent's side (in ball-sports).
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: The charity match, played Sunday afternoon at Cirencester Park Polo Club in Gloucestershire, reached a dramatic climax when Prince Harry tore down the pitch but failed to score what was described as an “open goal”.
By moving further down the pitch, the batsman lengthens the distance between the ball and the stumps.
gloss: So as to lessen quantity, level or intensity.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: You need to tone down the rhetoric.
Please turn the music down!
gloss: So as to reduce size, weight or volume.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: Trim the stick down to a length of about twelve inches.
Thanks to my strict diet, I've slimmed down to eleven stone.
Boil the mixture down to a syrupy consistency.
ſtew it gently till quite tender, then take it up and boil down the gravy in the pan to a quart
At that point I perhaps should have gone back through the interview and changed what I said — slightly re-worded it to better reflect my feelings about the two resolutions. But I did not think to do that. I was caught up in the crunch of trying to get it all ready for publication, and edit it down, not add more explanations to it.
gloss: From less to greater detail.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: This spreadsheet lets you drill down to daily or even hourly sales figures.
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.
gloss: From a remoter or higher antiquity.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: These traditions have been handed down over generations.
Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation.
gloss: Into a state of non-operation.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: The computer has been shut down.
They closed the shop down.
gloss: So as to secure or compress something to the floor, ground, or other (usually horizontal) surface.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: We need to nail down this carpet so people don't keep tripping over it.
gloss: On paper (or in a durable record).
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: You need to write down what happened while it's still fresh in your mind.
gloss: So as to be cowed into silence.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: The speaker was heckled and shouted down.
The comedy club's audience was known for hooting down timid performers.
gloss: As a down payment.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: We put £100 down on a new sofa.
You can have it, no money down.
gloss: In a downwards direction; vertically.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: I'm stuck on 11 down.
gloss: Used with verbs to indicate that the action of the verb was carried to some state of completion, permanence, or success rather than being of indefinite duration.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: He closed operations. / He closed down operations.
He chased answers. / He chased down answers.
gloss: Get down.
pos: adv
tags: imperative
not-comparable
usually
examples: Down, boy! (such as to direct a dog to stand on four legs from two, or to sit from standing on four legs.)
gloss: From the higher end to the lower of.
pos: prep
examples: The ball rolled down the hill.
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.
gloss: From north to south of.
pos: prep
examples: We sailed down the eastern seaboard.
gloss: Towards the mouth of (a river); in the direction of flow of.
pos: prep
examples: In this game we float sticks down the river.
gloss: From one end to another of (in any direction); along.
pos: prep
examples: The bus went down the street.
They walked down the beach holding hands.
gloss: At (a given place that is seen as removed from one's present location or other point of reference).
pos: prep
tags: Ireland
UK
examples: I'll see you later down the pub.
gloss: To (a given place that is seen as removed from one's present location or other point of reference).
pos: prep
tags: Ireland
UK
examples: I'm going down the shops.
gloss: Facing downwards.
pos: adj
examples: Turn the cloth over so that the patterned side is down.
You win a dollar if the down side of the card is different to the up side; otherwise, you lose a dollar.
Define the event F as the event that the down face of the die is 1 or 4.
Each time the 10 cards are reshuffled, your task is to predict the letter on the down side of the top card.
gloss: At a lower level than before.
pos: adj
examples: The stock market is down.
Prices are down.
gloss: Sad, unhappy, depressed, feeling low.
pos: adj
tags: informal
examples: Mary seems very down since she split up with her boyfriend.
Been down so long it seems like up to me
We get down, down, down / We feel sorry for ourselves / We get down, down, down / We all need somebody's help
You say you opened up a bicycle wash and the first six customers drowned [...] Is that what’s got you down, pussy cat?
gloss: Sick, wounded, or damaged:
pos: adj
examples: He is down with the flu.
gloss: Sick, wounded, or damaged:
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
slang
examples: We have an officer down outside the suspect's house.
There are three soldiers down and one walking wounded.
gloss: Sick, wounded, or damaged:
pos: adj
examples: a down cow
gloss: Sick, wounded, or damaged:
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
slang
examples: We have a chopper down near the river.
gloss: Sick, wounded, or damaged:
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
examples: The system is down.
gloss: In prison.
pos: adj
tags: slang
examples: I'm a TS who has been down for over 5 years and will be going up for parole in the next 1 to 3 years.
gloss: Having a lower score than an opponent.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
gloss: Out.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: Two down and one to go in the bottom of the ninth.
gloss: Negative about; hostile to.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: She's been down on clams since a bad case of food poisoning; she's lost her appetite for them.
The prisoners here are down on gays (they bring the outside in here with them when they come in). I sometimes think they hate us because they fear to be us.
gloss: Comfortable [with]; accepting [of]; okay [with].
pos: adj
tags: Canada
US
slang
examples: Near-synonyms: feel like, would like, fancy
He's chill enough; he'd probably be totally down with it.
Asker: Are you down to hang out at the mall? / Answerer: Yeah, as long as you're down with helping me pick a phone.
Asker: You down? Yes or no? / Answerer: You know I'm down for whatever.
Then again, with your name being Juanita Perez, I wasn't sure if you were more down with the Latinos or something.
He said Lunceford's band was smoother and had more musical variety and great show-band novelties, but that there was something about the way we did our things that made us sound more down with it.
And we could then feel more "down" with more unconscious guilt.
I thought, Oh, Sarah must be one of these super gentle, herbal-tea-drinking, crystal-having kind of people. And she was just super down. She belched like a sailor.
gloss: Accepted, respected, or loyally participating in the (thug) community.
pos: adj
tags: slang
examples: What you mean, 'No'? Man, I thought you was down.
my homies is down so don't arouse my anger
Nigga you ain't down. You heard what Nate said. If you ain't down for the dead homie you sure ain't down for us.
Cause you're a whiteboy, you know, an' if you get locked up you gotta be down for the Aryans and the Surenos, you know? You gotta be down.
gloss: Finished (of a task); defeated or dealt with (of an opponent or obstacle); elapsed (of time). Often coupled with to go (remaining).
pos: adj
examples: Two down and three to go.
Ten minutes down and nothing's happened yet.
gloss: Thoroughly practiced, learned or memorised; mastered. (Compare down pat.)
pos: adj
examples: It's two weeks until opening night and our lines are still not down yet.
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.
gloss: Downright; absolute; positive.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: This, he muſt give me leave to tell him, is an abſolute, right down—falſehood.
gloss: Fallen or felled.
pos: adj
examples: Left again at 1.05 p.m., and for two miles it was over rolling county with easy grades, but a good deal of down timber.
The mere fact that there are quantities of trees near by with "loads” of down wood, does not signify that it is desirable camp fuel.
Will you please let me get two loads of down wood.
The average weight of down logs in seven old-growth stands, from 250 to over 900 years old, was 53 tons per acre (118 tonnes/ha); the range was 38 to 70 tons per acre (85 to 156 tonnes/ha). The largest accumulation of down wood recorded for a stand thus far is in the Carbon River Valley […]
gloss: Travelling in the direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.
pos: adj
examples: The down train leaves at 10:05.
gloss: To knock (someone or something) down; to cause to come down; to fell.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The storm downed several old trees along the highway.
A single rifle shot downed the mighty beast.
gloss: To knock (someone or something) down; to cause to come down; to fell.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The helicopter was downed by a surface-to-air missile.
gloss: To lower; to put (something) down.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The bell rang for lunch, and the workers downed their tools.
gloss: To defeat; to overpower.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: To down proud hearts that would not willing die.
gloss: To disparage; to put down.
pos: verb
tags: colloquial
transitive
examples: ‘I remember how you downed Beauclerk and Hamilton, the Wits, once at our House, – when they talked of Ghosts.’
Now you have a social worker who downs women who are gay! […] I have met a woman and fell in love with her and I still get humiliated and discriminated against because he (social worker) is against homosexuality and is causing a lot of confusion here.
gloss: To go or come down; to descend.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
rare
examples: ...that is, that the trade of the world is too little for us two, therefore one must down.
gloss: To drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty.
pos: verb
tags: colloquial
transitive
examples: He downed an ale and ordered another.
After watching people downing drink on the train, I am in need of slaking my own thirst, so I pop into the station's Centurion Bar.
gloss: To render (the ball) dead, typically by touching the ground while in possession.
pos: verb
tags: Canadian
transitive
examples: He downed it at the seven-yard line.
gloss: To sink (a ball) into a hole or pocket.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: He downed two balls on the break.
gloss: A negative aspect; a downer, a downside.
pos: noun
examples: I love almost everything about my job. The only down is that I can't take Saturdays off.
gloss: A grudge (on someone).
pos: noun
tags: dated
examples: She had a down on me. I don't know what for, I'm sure; because I never said a word.
gloss: A downer, depressant.
pos: noun
examples: I am on drugs that I don't need to be on. They feel if I'm on a lot of downs, then I won't complain about my prison life
gloss: An act of swallowing an entire drink at once.
pos: noun
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
examples: I bet after the third down, the kicker will replace the quarterback on the field.
gloss: A clue whose solution runs vertically in the grid.
pos: noun
examples: I haven't solved 12 or 13 across, but I've got most of the downs.
gloss: The shift or period of time during which a dealer manages a given table before rotating to the next table at a casino or cardroom, which is often 30 minutes.
pos: noun
gloss: A downstairs room of a two-story house.
pos: noun
examples: She lives in a two-up two-down.
gloss: Down payment.
pos: noun
gloss: The lightest quark with a charge number of −¹⁄₃.
pos: noun
Antonyms: up
across
back
backwards
rearwards
Derived words: down bad
down but not out
downtime
double down
down tools
triple down
Translations:
lang: Catalan
word: vertical
lang: Finnish
word: pystysuoraan
lang: Hebrew
word: מאונך
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: loddrett
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: loddrett
lang: Polish
word: pionowo
lang: Russian
word: по вертика́ли
roman: po vertikáli
lang: Spanish
word: vertical
lang: Swedish
word: lodrätt
lang: Ukrainian
word: вертика́льно
roman: vertykálʹno
lang: Bulgarian
word: па́днал
roman: pádnal
lang: Bulgarian
word: повале́н
roman: povalén
lang: Bulgarian
word: свале́н
roman: svalén
lang: Arabic
word: سقط
lang: Danish
word: tabe
lang: Danish
word: lade falde
lang: Dutch
word: laten vallen
lang: Dutch
word: droppen
lang: Finnish
word: kaataa
lang: French
word: laisser tomber
lang: German
word: fallen lassen
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: daxistin
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: dahanîn
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: daketin
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: dahatin
lang: Russian
word: урони́ть
roman: uronítʹ
lang: Russian
word: свали́ть
roman: svalítʹ
lang: Russian
word: сбить
roman: sbitʹ
lang: Ukrainian
word: впуска́ти
roman: vpuskáty
lang: Ukrainian
word: упуска́ти
roman: upuskáty
lang: Ukrainian
word: впусти́ти
roman: vpustýty
lang: Ukrainian
word: упусти́ти
roman: upustýty