| / English Dictionary |
DOWN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(American football) a complete play to advance the football
Example:
you have four downs to gain ten yards
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
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 2
Meaning:
Soft fine feathers
Synonyms:
down; down feather
Classified under:
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 3
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)
Synonyms:
down; pile
Classified under:
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)
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:
English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896)
Synonyms:
Down; John L. H. Down
Classified under:
Instance hypernyms:
doc; doctor; Dr.; MD; medico; physician (a licensed medical practitioner)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Filled with melancholy and despondency
Example:
feeling discouraged and downhearted
Synonyms:
blue; depressed; dispirited; down; down in the mouth; downcast; downhearted; gloomy; grim; low; low-spirited
Classified under:
Similar:
dejected (affected or marked by low spirits)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not functioning (temporarily or permanently)
Example:
we can't work because the computer is down
Classified under:
Similar:
inoperative (not working or taking effect)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Shut
Example:
the shades were down
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
lowered (below the surround or below the normal position)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Lower than previously
Example:
prices are down
Synonyms:
depressed; down
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
low (less than normal in degree or intensity or amount)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Understood perfectly
Example:
had his algebra problems down
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
perfect (being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Being put out by a strikeout
Example:
two down in the bottom of the ninth
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
out (not allowed to continue to bat or run)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Extending or moving from a higher to a lower place
Example:
the downward course of the stream
Synonyms:
down; downward
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
descending (coming down or downward)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Becoming progressively lower
Example:
the down trend in the real estate market
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
falling (becoming lower or less in degree or value)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Being or moving lower in position or less in some value
Example:
the stock market is down today
Classified under:
Adjectives
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)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they down ... he / she / it downs
Past simple: downed
Past participle: downed
-ing form: downing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Improve or perfect by pruning or polishing
Example:
refine one's style of writing
Synonyms:
down; fine-tune; polish; refine
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
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
Sense 2
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 3
Meaning:
Eat up completely, as with great appetite
Example:
The teenagers demolished four pizzas among them
Synonyms:
consume; demolish; devour; down; go through
Classified under:
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 4
Meaning:
Drink down entirely
Example:
They popped a few beer after work
Synonyms:
belt down; bolt down; down; drink down; kill; pop; pour down; toss off
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "down" is one way to...):
drink; imbibe (take in liquids)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Cause to come or go down
Example:
The mugger knocked down the old lady after she refused to hand over her wallet
Synonyms:
cut down; down; knock down; pull down; push down
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
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:
Shoot at and force to come down
Example:
the enemy landed several of our aircraft
Synonyms:
down; land; shoot down
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
IV. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position
Example:
prices plunged downward
Synonyms:
down; downward; downwardly; downwards
Classified under:
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
Example:
flew down to Florida
Classified under:
Antonym:
up (to a more central or a more northerly place)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Paid in cash at time of purchase
Example:
put ten dollars down on the necklace
Classified under:
Adverbs
Sense 4
Meaning:
In an inactive or inoperative state
Example:
the computer went down again
Classified under:
Adverbs
Sense 5
Meaning:
To a lower intensity
Example:
he slowly phased down the light until the stage was completely black
Classified under:
Adverbs
Antonym:
up (to a higher intensity)
Sense 6
Meaning:
From an earlier time
Example:
the story was passed down from father to son
Classified under:
Adverbs
Context examples:
“Yes, sir;” and Thomas Mugridge fled swiftly aft and disappeared down another companion-way near the wheel.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Then the horror overcame me, and I sank down unconscious.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Mr. Dance told me to jump down and knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup to descend by.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Second, the body breaks down the food or drink into nutrients.
(Nutrition, NCI Dictionary)
Once he shook both hands furiously in the air, and twice he sprang from his seat and hurried down the road.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The remaining room appeared more promising, and my companion settled down to a systematic examination.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The virus infects and breaks down these tumor cells but not normal cells.
(NTX-010, NCI Dictionary)
Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient put him/herself down or say that he/she feels like a failure?
(NPI - Put Him/Herself Down or Say That He/She Feels Like a Failure, NCI Thesaurus)
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