DOWN


Meaning of DOWN in English

I. down 1 S1 W1 /daʊn/ BrE AmE adverb , preposition , adjective

1 . TO A LOWER POSITION to or towards a lower place or position OPP up :

David bent down to tie his shoelace.

Get down off the table.

Tears were streaming down my face.

The sun was going down and it would soon be dark.

They came running down the stairs.

She stood on a balcony looking down into the courtyard.

Glancing down the list of runners, I noticed a familiar name.

Her hair came down to her waist.

Ken fell asleep face down (=with his face towards the ground) on the couch.

2 . IN A LOWER PLACE in a lower place or position OPP up :

We heard the sound of laughter down below.

The bathroom is down those stairs.

Halfway down the page, there was the item I was looking for.

3 . TO LIE/SIT into a sitting or lying position:

Please sit down.

I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.

4 . ALONG at or to a place that is further along something such as a road or path:

A young man came hurrying down the street.

She looked down the road to see if anyone was coming.

There is a pleasant little cafe bar a hundred yards down the road.

The bus stop is a bit further down on the left-hand side.

5 . SOUTH in or towards the south OPP up :

They drove all the way down from Boston to Miami.

They sailed down the east coast of Africa.

Now he’s bought a villa down south.

a trip down Mexico way

6 . SOMEWHERE LOCAL at or to a place that is not far away:

She’s just gone down to the shops.

I saw her down at the station this morning.

7 . RIVER away from the place where a river starts OPP up :

Chunks of ice came floating down the river.

8 . FASTENED TO A SURFACE used with verbs that mean ‘fasten’ to show that something is fastened firmly to the surface or object below it:

The coffin lid had been nailed down.

9 . LESS at or towards a level or amount that is less OPP up :

Keep your speed down.

House prices have come down in recent months.

Turn the radio down.

down to

Sharif cut his report down to only three pages.

10 . LOSING losing to an opponent by a certain number of points

two goals down/three points down etc

Swindon were six points down at one stage.

11 . WRITTEN used with verbs that mean ‘write’ to show that you write something on paper or in a book:

I’ll write down the address for you.

Start by jotting down a few ideas.

Let’s put you down as self-employed.

12 . ON A LIST if you are down for something, your name is on a list of people who want to do something or are intended to do something

down for

Purvis is down for the 200 metre freestyle event.

We’ve already put his name down for nursery school.

down to do something

I’ve got you down to do the table decorations.

13 . TO LATER TIMES from an earlier time in history to a later time or to people who are born in later times:

a person whose words and actions have inspired millions of people down the centuries

This knowledge was handed down in the family from father to son.

The story has been passed down the generations for a thousand years.

down to

traditions that have come down to us from medieval times

14 . PAID IMMEDIATELY paid to someone immediately:

A top quality freezer for only £20 down and £5 a week for a year.

15 . EVERY PART from top to bottom:

I want you to wash my car down.

16 . SWALLOWED in or into your stomach as a result of swallowing:

Meg’s been very ill and can’t keep her food down.

He gulped down the coffee.

17 . SAD unhappy or sad:

Tim’s been feeling down.

18 . COMPUTER if a computer is down, it is not working OPP up

19 . be down to somebody if an action or decision is down to you, it is your responsibility:

It’s down to me to make sure that everyone is happy.

⇨ be up to somebody at ↑ up 1 (19b)

20 . be down to somebody/something to be the result of one person’s actions or one particular thing:

Chris’s success is all down to him.

21 . be down to your last pound/dollar/litre etc to be left with only a small amount of something:

We’re down to our last five dollars.

22 . down to something/somebody including everything or everyone, even the smallest thing or the least important person:

Everyone uses the cafeteria, from the managing director down to the office boy.

The plans were all complete down to the last detail.

23 . be/go down with something to have a particular illness:

Jane’s gone down with flu.

24 . Down with somebody/something spoken used to say that you strongly oppose a government, leader etc and want them to lose their power:

Down with the government!

25 . be down on somebody/something informal to have a severe attitude towards someone or something, especially when this is unfair:

Why is Mark so down on her at the moment?

26 . LEAVING UNIVERSITY British English used to say that someone leaves or has left a university at the end of a period of study

down from

Sarah came down from Oxford in 1966.

27 . COMPLETED already done or completed:

Well, you’ve passed your second test, so it’s two down and four more to go.

28 . down under informal in or to Australia or New Zealand

29 . Down! spoken used to tell a jumping dog to get down

30 . be down with somebody spoken informal to be friends with someone

⇨ be down on your luck at ↑ luck 1 (17)

II. down 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]

[ Sense 1-2: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: dúnn ]

[ Sense 3, 5: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ down 2 ]

[ Sense 4: Language: Old English ; Origin: dun 'hill' ]

1 . to drink or eat something quickly:

He downed the coffee in one gulp.

2 . to knock or force someone to the ground:

O'Malley downed his opponent in the first round.

3 . down tools British English to stop working, especially because you are taking part in a ↑ strike (=protest about pay or conditions by stopping work)

III. down 3 BrE AmE noun

1 . [uncountable] soft hair like a baby’s

2 . [uncountable] the soft fine feathers of a bird

3 . [countable] one of the four chances that an American football team has to move forward when it is their turn to have the ball

4 . the downs low round hills covered with grass, as in the south of England

5 . have a down on somebody British English informal to dislike or have a bad opinion of someone:

For some reason, Malcolm had a down on the whole teaching profession.

⇨ ups and downs at ↑ up 2 (1)

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.