DOWN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Down mean? 

• DOWN (noun)
  The noun DOWN has 5 senses:

1. soft fine feathers

2. (American football) a complete play to advance the football

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)

  Familiarity information: DOWN used as a noun is common.

• DOWN (adjective)
  The adjective DOWN has 9 senses:

1. being or moving lower in position or less in some value

2. extending or moving from a higher to a lower place

3. becoming progressively lower

4. being put out by a strikeout

5. understood perfectly

6. lower than previously

7. shut

8. not functioning (temporarily or permanently)

9. filled with melancholy and despondency

  Familiarity information: DOWN used as an adjective is familiar.

• DOWN (verb)
  The verb DOWN has 6 senses:

1. drink down entirely

2. eat up completely, as with great appetite

3. bring down or defeat (an opponent)

4. shoot at and force to come down

5. cause to come or go down

6. improve or perfect by pruning or polishing

  Familiarity information: DOWN used as a verb is common.

• DOWN (adverb)
  The adverb DOWN has 6 senses:

1. spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position

2. away from a more central or a more northerly place

3. paid in cash at time of purchase

4. from an earlier time

5. to a lower intensity

6. in an inactive or inoperative state

  Familiarity information: DOWN used as an adverb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DOWN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Soft fine feathers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

down; down feather

Hypernyms ("down" is a kind of...):

feather; plumage; plume (the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "down"):

duck down (down of the duck)

goose down (down of the goose)

swan's down (down of the swan)

plumule (down feather of young birds; persists in some adult birds)

Derivation:

downy (like down or as soft as down)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(American football) a complete play to advance the football

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

you have four downs to gain ten yards

Hypernyms ("down" is a kind of...):

play; turn ((game) the activity of doing something in an agreed succession)

Domain category:

American football; American football game (a game played by two teams of 11 players on a rectangular field 100 yards long; teams try to get possession of the ball and advance it across the opponents goal line in a series of (running or passing) plays)

Sense 3

Meaning:

English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Down; John L. H. Down

Instance hypernyms:

doc; doctor; Dr.; MD; medico; physician (a licensed medical practitioner)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(usually plural) a rolling treeless highland with little soil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("down" is a kind of...):

highland; upland (elevated (e.g., mountainous) land)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

down; pile

Hypernyms ("down" is a kind of...):

hair (a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "down"):

lanugo (the fine downy hair covering a human fetus; normally shed during the ninth month of gestation)

Derivation:

downy (covered with fine soft hairs or down)

• DOWN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Being or moving lower in position or less in some value

Context example:

the stock market is down today

Similar:

weak (tending downward in price)

thrown (caused to fall to the ground)

set (being below the horizon)

fallen (having dropped by the force of gravity)

downward (on or toward a surface regarded as a base)

downfield (toward or in the defending team's end of the playing field)

downcast (directed downward)

downbound (heading in any direction that is conventionally down)

behind (having the lower score or lagging position in a contest)

Also:

descending (coming down or downward)

low (literal meanings; being at or having a relatively small elevation or upward extension)

Antonym:

up (being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Extending or moving from a higher to a lower place

Synonyms:

down; downward

Context example:

the downward course of the stream

Similar:

descending (coming down or downward)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Becoming progressively lower

Context example:

the down trend in the real estate market

Similar:

falling (becoming lower or less in degree or value)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Being put out by a strikeout

Context example:

two down in the bottom of the ninth

Similar:

out (not allowed to continue to bat or run)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Understood perfectly

Synonyms:

down; down pat; mastered

Context example:

had his algebra problems down

Similar:

perfect (being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Lower than previously

Synonyms:

depressed; down

Context example:

prices are down

Similar:

low (less than normal in degree or intensity or amount)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Shut

Context example:

the shades were down

Similar:

lowered (below the surround or below the normal position)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Not functioning (temporarily or permanently)

Context example:

we can't work because the computer is down

Similar:

inoperative (not working or taking effect)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Filled with melancholy and despondency

Synonyms:

blue; depressed; dispirited; down; down in the mouth; downcast; downhearted; gloomy; grim; low; low-spirited

Context example:

feeling discouraged and downhearted

Similar:

dejected (affected or marked by low spirits)

• DOWN (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Drink down entirely

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

belt down; bolt down; down; drink down; kill; pop; pour down; toss off

Context example:

They popped a few beer after work

Hypernyms (to "down" is one way to...):

drink; imbibe (take in liquids)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Eat up completely, as with great appetite

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

consume; demolish; devour; down; go through

Context example:

The teenagers demolished four pizzas among them

Hypernyms (to "down" is one way to...):

eat up; finish; polish off (finish eating all the food on one's plate or on the table)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They down more bread

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bring down or defeat (an opponent)

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "down" is one way to...):

defeat; get the better of; overcome (win a victory over)

Domain category:

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to down his opponent

Sense 4

Meaning:

Shoot at and force to come down

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

down; land; shoot down

Context example:

the enemy landed several of our aircraft

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Cause to come or go down

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

cut down; down; knock down; pull down; push down

Context example:

The mugger knocked down the old lady after she refused to hand over her wallet

Hypernyms (to "down" is one way to...):

strike (deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "down"):

submarine (bring down with a blow to the legs)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to down his opponent

Derivation:

downer (a drug that reduces excitability and calms a person)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Improve or perfect by pruning or polishing

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

down; fine-tune; polish; refine

Context example:

refine one's style of writing

Hypernyms (to "down" is one way to...):

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "down"):

over-refine; overrefine (refine too much or with excess of subtlety)

civilise; civilize; cultivate; educate; school; train (teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

• DOWN (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position

Synonyms:

down; downward; downwardly; downwards

Context example:

prices plunged downward

Antonym:

up (spatially or metaphorically from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Away from a more central or a more northerly place

Context example:

flew down to Florida

Antonym:

up (to a more central or a more northerly place)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Paid in cash at time of purchase

Context example:

put ten dollars down on the necklace

Sense 4

Meaning:

From an earlier time

Context example:

the story was passed down from father to son

Sense 5

Meaning:

To a lower intensity

Context example:

he slowly phased down the light until the stage was completely black

Antonym:

up (to a higher intensity)

Sense 6

Meaning:

In an inactive or inoperative state

Context example:

the computer went down again

 Context examples 

When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan of campaign.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Who was there in all the Down country who had not heard of the Walker of Cliffe Royal?

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was always a man of iron nerve, and the story is still told in India how he crawled down a drain after a wounded man-eating tiger.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The dogs did not lie down, but on their feet eagerly waited his return.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

"I watched him. He couldn't walk across the floor without stumblin'. You heard 'm yourself almost fall down in the hall."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Mercury may temporarily slow down talks about your compensation (or if you submitted a financial estimate for an impending job, final approval may take time).

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Fresh editions of every paper had been sent up by our news agent, only to be glanced over and tossed down into a corner.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So that was the way. No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

When she had got down, she took me by the hand; led me, wondering, into the kitchen; and shut the door.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Then the she- wolf sat down, pointed her nose at a star, and began to howl.

(White Fang, by Jack London)