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Meaning of down in English
Pronunciation
/daʊn/
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Verb
down
Definitions
1.
drink down entirely
Examples
« He downed three martinis before dinner »
« She killed a bottle of brandy that night »
« They popped a few beer after work »
2.
eat immoderately
Examples
« Some people can down a pound of meat in the course of one meal »
3.
bring down or defeat (an opponent)
4.
shoot at and force to come down
Examples
« the enemy landed several of our aircraft »
5.
cause to come or go down
Examples
« The policeman downed the heavily armed suspect »
« The mugger knocked down the old lady after she refused to hand over her wallet »
6.
improve or perfect by pruning or polishing
Examples
« refine one's style of writing »
Classifying Adjective
down
Definitions
1.
understood perfectly
Examples
« had his algebra problems down »
Synonyms
perfect
2.
shut
Examples
« the shades were down »
Synonyms
lowered
3.
cut down
Examples
« the tree is down »
Synonyms
felled
downed
4.
not functioning (temporarily or permanently)
Examples
« we can't work because the computer is down »
Synonyms
inoperative
5.
the fractional price paid in cash at time of purchase
Examples
« the down payment »
« a payment of $200 down »
Synonyms
fractional
Adverb
down
Etymology
Old English dūn, dūne, shortened from adūne ‘downward’, from the phrase of dūne ‘off the hill’ (see down)
Definitions
1.
spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position
Examples
« don't fall down »
« rode the lift up and skied down »
« prices plunged downward »
Antonyms
up
upwards
upward
upwardly
up
upwards
upward
upwardly
up
upwards
upward
upwardly
up
upwards
upward
upwardly
2.
away from a more central or a more northerly place
Examples
« was sent down to work at the regional office »
« worked down on the farm »
« came down for the wedding »
« flew down to Florida »
Antonyms
up
3.
paid in cash at time of purchase
Examples
« put ten dollars down on the necklace »
4.
from an earlier time
Examples
« the story was passed down from father to son »
5.
to a lower intensity
Examples
« he slowly phased down the light until the stage was completely black »
Antonyms
up
6.
in an inactive or inoperative state
Examples
« the factory went down during the strike »
« the computer went down again »
Noun
down
Etymology
Middle English: from Old Norse dúnn
Definitions
1.
soft fine feathers
2.
(American football) a complete play to advance the football
Examples
« you have 4 downs to gain 10 yards »
3.
English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896)
4.
(usually plural) a rolling treeless highland with little soil
5.
fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs)
Qualitative Adjective
down
Definitions
1.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
Examples
« lay face down »
« the moon is down »
« our team is down by a run »
« down by a pawn »
« the stock market is down today »
Synonyms
behind(p)
trailing
downbound
downcast
downfield
downward(ip)
fallen
set(p)
thrown
Antonyms
up
See also
descending(a)
low