Definition of Down

  • (n.) Fine, soft, hairy outgrowth from the skin or surface of animals or plants, not matted and fleecy like wool
  • (n.) The soft under feathers of birds. They have short stems with soft rachis and bards and long threadlike barbules, without hooklets.
  • (n.) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the seeds of certain plants, as of the thistle.
  • (n.) The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.
  • (n.) That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down
  • (v. t.) To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.
  • (prep.) A bank or rounded hillock of sand thrown up by the wind along or near the shore; a flattish-topped hill; -- usually in the plural.
  • (prep.) A tract of poor, sandy, undulating or hilly land near the sea, covered with fine turf which serves chiefly for the grazing of sheep; -- usually in the plural.
  • (prep.) A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war.
  • (prep.) A state of depression; low state; abasement.
  • (adv.) In the direction of gravity or toward the center of the earth; toward or in a lower place or position; below; -- the opposite of up.
  • (adv.) From a higher to a lower position, literally or figuratively; in a descending direction; from the top of an ascent; from an upright position; to the ground or floor; to or into a lower or an inferior condition; as, into a state of humility, disgrace, misery, and the like; into a state of rest; -- used with verbs indicating motion.
  • (adv.) In a low or the lowest position, literally or figuratively; at the bottom of a decent; below the horizon; of the ground; in a condition of humility, dejection, misery, and the like; in a state of quiet.
  • (adv.) From a remoter or higher antiquity.
  • (adv.) From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence; as, to boil down in cookery, or in making decoctions.
  • (adv.) In a descending direction along; from a higher to a lower place upon or within; at a lower place in or on; as, down a hill; down a well.
  • (adv.) Hence: Towards the mouth of a river; towards the sea; as, to sail or swim down a stream; to sail down the sound.
  • (v. t.) To cause to go down; to make descend; to put down; to overthrow, as in wrestling; hence, to subdue; to bring down.
  • (v. i.) To go down; to descend.
  • (a.) Downcast; as, a down look.
  • (a.) Downright; absolute; positive; as, a down denial.
  • (a.) Downward; going down; sloping; as, a down stroke; a down grade; a down train on a railway.

Antonyms of Down


Homophones of Down