Down | Mean of down in English Dictionary

/ˈdaʊn/

• from a higher to a lower place or position
1. The land slopes down to the sea.
2. Please pull down the window shade. = Please pull the window shade down.
3. I'll come down [=downstairs] in a minute.
4. She called down to her friends in the street below.
5. They set/put the cake down on the table.
6. Lay down your book for a minute.
7. We watched the sun go down.
• in a low position or place
1. Keep your head down.
2. We keep our wine collection down in the basement.
3. What's going on down there?
• to or toward the ground or floor
1. He fell down and hurt his knee.
2. Climb down out of that tree!
3. He knocked him down with one punch.
4. Don't look down!
5. Brightly colored flags hang down from the ceiling.

• to a lying or sitting position
1. Please, sit down.
2. Lie down and go to sleep.
• to or toward the south
1. They went down to Florida for two weeks.
2. We drove down from New York.
3. The weather's much warmer down south.
• to or toward a place that is thought of as below or away from another place
1. She drove down to our house.
2. Come on down and see us sometime.
• to or toward a place that is away from the speaker
1. He is heading down to the store.
2. Would you mind moving (further) down so that we can sit here, too?
• on a piece of paper
1. Write down everything he says.
2. Take down this number.
3. Did you get that down?
• at a lower or lesser important position in a list or series
1. Supporting public education seems to be far down [=low] on the government's agenda.
2. Cleaning my house ranks pretty far down on my list. [=there are many other things I'd rather do]
• to a lower or lesser degree, level, or rate
1. Slow down.
2. Could you turn the volume down, please?
3. We should give them some time to cool down.
4. We should wait for the winds to calm down before we set sail.
5. The company's stock went down last week.
6. The team was 10 points down [=it had 10 fewer points than the other team] in the third quarter.
7. The price of gasoline is starting to go down again.
• to a smaller or weaker state
1. We have scaled down our plans for the new building.
2. Some people want to use the budget surplus to pay down the national debt. [=to make payments that will reduce the a national debt]
3. They have cut/whittled down the number of candidates.
4. He finally got his report down to three pages.
• to a state of failure or defeat
1. The school board voted the budget down 55 to 15. [=it voted not to pass the budget]
• in a way that causes someone or something to be less able to move
1. Remember to tie down the load.
2. They had to strap the patient down to his bed.
• in a thorough or complete way
1. The car needs to be washed down.
2. Hose the dog down outside.
• to the place where a person or thing is or came from
1. They use dogs to hunt down escaped prisoners.
2. He chased the ball down and threw it to third base.
3. Every attempt to pin down the cause of the disease has proved unsuccessful.
4. I haven't been able to track down that quotation.
• from a past time
1. This vase has been handed down in our family for several generations.
2. Most of these stories were passed down by word of mouth.
• as a first payment
1. We put 10 percent down [=we made a 10 percent down payment] on the house.
2. Buy a car now with no money down. [=without making a down payment]
• in the stomach
1. The baby is having trouble keeping food down.
• away from a school or university
1. He was sent down for misconduct and never earned his degree.
• in a way that includes even (the smallest or least important part)
1. Our work must be accurate down to the last detail.
2. They knew everything about him down to the cologne he wore.
• to the last person or thing that can be used
1. It looks like it's down to you and me. [=we are the last two people that are available]
2. I'm down to my last dollar. [=I have only one dollar left]
• in a low place or position
1. The window shades were down.
2. The candy is down on the bottom shelf.
3. There was a pile of dirty clothes down on the floor.
• going downward
1. She took the down escalator.
• lower in price or value
1. These changes should help keep prices down.
2. Stocks are down again today.
• less than an earlier or normal level
1. Attendance has been down lately.
2. New construction is down sharply this month.
• having a lower level of activity
1. Our business is having a down year.
2. a down market/economy
• having fewer points than an opponent
1. His team was down by 10 points [=trailed by 10 points] in the third quarter.
2. We're down two runs.
• not operating properly
1. We can't get any work done while the network/system is down.
• sad or unhappy
1. You look pretty down. What's the matter?
2. She was feeling down.
• finished or completed
1. I've got eight down and only two more to go. [=I've finished eight and have two more to do]
• learned in a complete way
1. Do you all have your lines down? [=memorized]
2. We have our routine down pat. [=we have mastered our routine; we can do it easily]
• having something written or recorded in an official way
1. You are down for two tickets. [=you are signed up to get two tickets]
• having a bad opinion of someone or something
1. My coach has been down on me lately.
• affected by (an illness)
1. She has been down with the flu for a week.
• from a higher to a lower part of (something)
1. Sweat dripped down her neck.
2. The children ran down the hill.
3. She fell down the stairs.
4. He climbed down the ladder.
5. He spilled mustard down the front of his shirt.
6. Her hair hung loosely down her back.
• along the course or path of (something)
1. Go down the road/street and turn left.
2. We grew up down the block from each other.
3. There's a bridge three miles down the river. [=three miles in the same direction that the water is going in the river]
4. ships sailing down the coast [=along the coast usually toward the south]
5. The bathroom is halfway down the hall on the right.
6. His pitches were right down the middle of the plate.
7. I usually part my hair down the center.
8. He is still pacing up and down [=back and forth in] the room.
• Noun
• a period or state of failure, trouble, etc.
1. The company has had more downs than ups this year.
2. We have had our ups and downs.
• one of a series of four chances that a team has to move the ball forward 10 yards in order to keep the ball and begin a new series
1. He caught the ball on second/third down.
2. a series of downs
• small and very soft feathers
1. goose down
2. a pillow filled with down
3. a down pillow/comforter/jacket
• small soft hairs
1. The young man had just a light trace of down on his cheeks.
2. the down of a peach
• Verb
• to cause (something) to fall to the ground
1. He downed [=shot down] four enemy planes.
2. The storm downed power lines throughout the city.
3. a downed bird/plane
4. a large number of downed power lines
• to eat or drink (something) especially quickly
1. She quickly downed [=took, swallowed] the pills I gave her.
2. They were downing beers and watching the game on TV.
• to cause (a football) to be out of play
1. The quarterback downed the ball to stop the clock.