COUNT DOWN

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Meaning:

Count backwards; before detonating a bomb, for example

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

count (name or recite the numbers in ascending order)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

countdown (counting backward from an arbitrary number to indicate the time remaining before some event (such as launching a space vehicle))