Meaning

17 senses

  1. (predicative)A negative aspect; a downer, a downside.

    I love almost everything about my job. The only down is that I can't take Saturdays off.

  2. (dated, predicative)A grudge (on someone).

  3. (predicative)A downer, depressant.

  4. (predicative)An act of swallowing an entire drink at once.

  5. (predicative)A single play, from the time the ball is snapped (the start) to the time the whistle is blown (the end) when the ball is down, or is downed.

    I bet after the third down, the kicker will replace the quarterback on the field.

  6. (predicative)A clue whose solution runs vertically in the grid.

    I haven't solved 12 or 13 across, but I've got most of the downs.

  7. (predicative)The shift or period of time during which a dealer manages a given table before rotating to the next table at a casino or cardroom, which is often 30 minutes.

  8. (predicative)A downstairs room of a two-story house.

    She lives in a two-up two-down.

  9. (predicative)Down payment.

  10. (predicative)The lightest quark with a charge number of −¹⁄₃.

  11. (Australia, Southern England, also, countable, especially, often, plural, predicative, uncountable)A hill; in England, especially a chalk hill.

    We went for a walk over the downs.

    The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England.

    Hügel

    холмxolm, безле́сая возвы́шенностьbezlésaja vozvýšennostʹ

    па́горбpáhorb

  12. (countable, usually plural, predicative, uncountable)A field, especially one used for horse racing.

    іподро́мipodróm

More definitions
  • (American football) a complete play to advance the football
  • soft fine feathers
  • fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs)
  • (usually plural) a rolling treeless highland with little soil

Examples

11540 sentences

  1. Could you turn down the radio?

    Ти не міг би зробити радіо тихіше? — deniko

    ruВы не могли бы сделать радио потише? — Inego

    deKönnten Sie das Radio leise stellen? — landano

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. The tree fell down by itself.

    Дерево впало саме. — deniko

    ruДерево само упало. — marafon

    deDer Baum ist von alleine umgefallen. — xtofu80

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Lie down on your left side.

    Ляжте на лівий бік. — aandrusiak

    ruЛожитесь на левый бок. — corvard

    deLegen Sie sich auf die linke Seite. — corvard

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. I fell down on the ice.

    Я впав на льоду. — Walentinio

    ruЯ упал на лёд. — odexed

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. He ran down to the lake.

    Він побіг до озера. — deniko

    deEr lief hinunter an den See. — wolfgangth

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 4
hill, rolling grassland:
field, especially for racing:
soft, immature feathers:
soft hair of the face:
Русский
By meaning 2
hill, rolling grassland:
soft, immature feathers:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
hill, rolling grassland:
soft, immature feathers:

Origin

From Middle English doun, doune (“down”), from Old English dūne (“down”), aphetic form of

From Middle English doun, doune (“down”), from Old English dūne (“down”), aphetic form of adūne (“down, downward”), from earlier ofdūne (“down”, literally “off the hill”), from of (“of, off of”) + dūn (“hill, mount, dune, down”). More at Etymology 2 below. For the development from directional phrases to prepositions, compare Old Frisian dene (“down”, adverb, literally “(to the) floor”), Middle Low German dāle (“down, downwards”, literally “(in/to the) dale/valley”), whence German Low German dal (“down”). Compare also Saterland Frisian deel (“down”, literally “to/into the dale”), West Frisian del (“down”). Cognate with Scots doon (“down”).

From Middle English doune, from Old English dūn, from Proto-West Germanic *dūn (“sandhill, dune”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz, *dūnǭ (“pile, heap”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke, haze, dust”).

From Middle English doun, from Old Norse dúnn, from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz (“down”), which is related to *dauniz (“(pleasant) smell”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰowh₂-nis, from the root *dʰewh₂-.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: downs

Synonyms

4 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • soft fine feathers:down feather
  • fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs):pile
  • English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896):John Langdon DownJohn L. H. Down

Word family

292 related words
Relateddowny
DeriveddownfallB2downloadB2downtownA2downwardB1upside downB2amp downantidownbackdownbag downbalance downball downbar downbeard-downbelt downbid downblaze downboildownbolt downbone downbottle downbouncedownbowl downbreast downbringdown

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
doveB2dovetaildowdownbeatdowncast

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

down — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto