down

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adv. From a higher to a lower place or position: hiked down from the peak.
2. adv. Toward, to, or on the ground, floor, or bottom: tripped and fell down.
3. adv. In or into a sitting, kneeling, or reclining position: knelt down; lying down.
4. adv. Toward or in the south; southward: flew down to Florida.
5. adv. Away from a place considered central or a center of activity, such as a city or town: down on the farm; sent down to work at the firm's regional office.
6. adv. Away from the present place.
7. adv. To a specific location or source: tracking a rumor down.
8. adv. Toward or at a low or lower point on a scale: from the biggest down to the smallest.
9. adv. To or in a quiescent or subdued state: calmed down.
10. adv. In or into an inactive or inoperative state: The generators went down at midnight.
11. adv. To or at a lower intensity.
12. adv. To or into a lower or inferior condition, as of subjection, defeat, or disgrace.
13. adv. To an extreme degree; heavily: worn down by worry.
14. adv. Seriously or vigorously: get down to the project at hand.
15. adv. From earlier times or people: tradition handed down from one generation to the next.
16. adv. To a reduced or concentrated form: pared the term paper down to five pages.
17. adv. In writing; on paper: wrote the statement down.
18. adv. In partial payment at the time of purchase: put ten dollars down on the necklace.
19. adv. Into or toward a secure position: nailed down the boards; bolted the furniture down.
20. adj. Moving or directed downward: a down elevator.
21. adj. Low or lower: Stock prices were down today.
22. adj. Reduced; diminished: The wind is down.
23. adj. Afflicted; sick: She's down with a bad cold.
24. adj. Malfunctioning or not operating, especially temporarily: The computer is down.
25. adj. Low in spirits; depressed: feeling down today.
26. adj. Sports & Games Trailing an opponent: a team down 20 points in the last quarter; down two pawns in the endgame.
27. adj. Football Not in play: The ball is down on the 50-yard line.
28. adj. Football Not permitted to advance further in the play because forward progress has stopped, especially by being tackled. Used of a ball carrier.
29. adj. Baseball Retired; out: two down in the last of the ninth.
30. adj. Completed; done: three down, two to go.
31. adj. Learned or known perfectly: had the algebra problems down.
32. adj. Slang Having knowledge of; aware: "He was not, I detected, 'down with the revolution'” ( Clarence Page).
33. adj. Slang Of high quality; excellent.
34. prep. In a descending direction along, upon, into, or through: rolled down the hill; floating down the river; went down cellar.
35. prep. Along the course of: walking down the street.
36. prep. In or at: The cans are stored down cellar.
37. n. A downward movement; descent.
38. n. Football Any of a series of four plays during which a team must advance at least ten yards to retain possession of the ball.
39. v. To bring, put, strike, or throw down: downed his opponent in the first round.
40. v. To swallow hastily; gulp: downed the glass of water.
41. v. Football To put (the ball) out of play by touching it to the ground.
42. v. To go or come down; descend.
43. idiom. down on Informal Hostile or negative toward; ill-disposed to: was down on jogging after his injury.
44. idiom. down on (one's) luck Afflicted by misfortune.
45. n. Fine, soft, fluffy feathers forming the first plumage of a young bird and underlying the contour feathers in certain adult birds.
46. n. Botany A covering of soft, short hairs, as on some leaves or fruit.
47. n. A soft, silky, or feathery substance, such as the first growth of a human beard.
48. n. An expanse of rolling, grassy, treeless upland used for grazing. Often used in the plural.
49. n. Any of several breeds of sheep having short wool, originally bred in the Downs of southern England.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A hill; a hill of moderate elevation and more or less rounded outline: in this general sense now chiefly in poetry, as opposed to dale, vale, valley.
2. n. Same as dune.
3. n. Hence A bare, level space on the top of a hill; more generally, a high, rolling region not covered by forests.
4. n. plural Specifically, certain districts in southern and southeastern England which are underlain by the Chalk (which see). These districts are considerably elevated above the adjacent areas, and are dry in consequence of the absorbent nature of the underlying rock. They are not forest-covered, but form natural pastures, and are largely given over to sheep-raising. The North Downs are in Kent, England; the South Downs, in Sussex. The one is to the north, the other to the south, of the remarkable district known as the Weald (which see). Various other areas of similar character are called downs, and to this word there is often some geographical prefix, as the Marlborough Downs. When used to designate an area of considerable extent, the word is always made plural, and means simply the hills, or the highlands. A limited portion of this high, rolling region is often called the down.
5. In a descending direction; from a higher to a lower place, degree, or condition: as, to look down; to run down; the temperature is down to zero.
6. In a direction from a source or starting-point, from a more to a less important place or situation, or the like: as, to sail down toward the mouth of a stream; to go down into the country.
7. In a descending order; from that which is higher or earlier in a series or progression to that which is lower or later.
8. In music, from a more acute to a less acute pitch.
9. From a greater to a less bulk, degree of consistency, etc.: as, to boil down a decoction.
10. To or at a lower rate or point, as to price, demand, etc.; below a standard or requirement: as, to mark down goods or the prices of goods; the stocks sold down to a very low figure; to beat down a tradesman.
11. Below the horizon: as, the sun or moon is down.
12. From an erect or standing to a prostrate or overturned position or condition: as, to beat down the walls of a city; to knock a man down.
13. In or into a low, fallen, overturned, prostrate, or downcast position or condition, as a state of discomfiture; at the bottom or lowest point, either literally or figuratively: as, never kick a man when he is down; to put down a rebellion; to be taken down with a fever.
14. Hence Into disrepute or disgrace; so as to discredit or defeat: as, to preach down error; to write down an opponent or his character; to run down a business enterprise.
15. On or to the ground.
16. On the counter; hence, in hand: as, he bought it for cash down; he paid part down and gave his note for the balance.
17. Elliptically: in an imperative or interjectional use, the imperative verb (go, come, get, fall, kneel. etc.) being omitted. Used absolutely: as, down! dog, down!
18. Followed by with, being then equivalent to a transitive verb with down (put, pull, take down), in either a literal or a denunciatory sense: as, down with the sail! down with it! down with tyranny!
19. On paper or in a book: with write, jot, set, put, or other verb applicable to writing.
20. In place, position, or occupation; firmly; closely.
21. In a descending direction upon or along, either literally, as from a higher toward a lower level or position, or from a point or place which is regarded as higher; adown: as, to glance down a page; to ramble down the valley; to sail down a stream; an excursion down the bay; down the road.
22. Along the course or progress of: as, down the ages.
23. Cast or directed downward; downcast; de-jected: as, a down look.
24. Downright; plain; positive.
25. Downward; that goes down, or on a road regarded as down: as, a down train or boat.
26. The accent or pulse thus marked.
27. n. A downward movement; a low state; a reverse: as, the ups and downs of fortune.
28. To cause to go down. To put, throw, or knock down; overthrow; subdue: as, to down a man with a blow.
29. To discourage; dishearten; dispirit.
30. To go down. To descend; sink; fall.
31. To go down the throat; hence, to be palatable; be acceptable or trustworthy.
32. n. The fine soft covering of fowls under the feathers; the fine soft feathers which constitute the under plumage of birds, as distinguished from contour-feathers, particularly when thick and copious, as in swans, ducks, and other water-fowls. The eider-duck yields most of the down of commerce. See down-feather.
33. n. The first feathering of a bird; the downy plumage or floccus with which a præcocial bird is clothed when hatched, or that which an altricial bird first acquires.
34. n. The soft hair of the human face when beginning to appear.
35. n. A fine soft pubescence upon plants and some fruits; also, the light feathery pappus or coma upon seeds by which they are borne upon the wind, as in the dandelion and thistle.
36. In stud poker, said of the first card, which is dealt face down.
37. n. In dominoes, the first stone laid on the table.
38. n. A scrimmage in foot-ball. When a player is held so that he can no longer advance the ball, he cries ‘down,’ and the ball is then placed on that spot for a scrimmage.
39. n. A grudge or prejudice (against); a hostile attitude: usually with on or upon: as, to have a private down on one; the diggers had a down on made dishes.

Wiktionary

1. n. Hill, rolling grassland
2. n. usually plural Field, especially for racing.
3. n. Soft, fluffy immature feathers which grow on young birds. Used as insulating material in duvets, sleeping bags and jackets.
4. adv. comparable From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.
5. adv. comparable At a lower place or position.
6. adv. South (as south is at the bottom of typical maps).
7. adv. Ireland Away from the city (even if the location is to the North).
8. adv. Into a state of non-operation.
9. adv. rail transport The direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.
10. adv. sentence substitute Get down.
11. adv. UK, academia Away from Oxford or Cambridge.
12. prep. From the higher end to the lower of.
13. prep. From one end to another of.
14. adj. Depressed, feeling low.
15. adj. On a lower level than before.
16. adj. Having a lower score than an opponent.
17. adj. colloquial With "on", negative about, hostile to
18. adj. not comparable, US, slang Frequently used prior to "with", relaxed about, accepting of
19. adj. not comparable Inoperable; out of order; out of service.
20. adj. finished (of a task)
21. adj. Committed to memory; memorised, in phrases like:
22. v. transitive To drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty.
23. v. transitive To cause to come down.
24. v. transitive, pocket billiards To put a ball in a pocket; to pot a ball.
25. v. transitive, American football To bring a play to an end by touching the ball to the ground or while it is on the ground.
26. v. transitive To write off; to make fun of.
27. n. a negative aspect; a downer.
28. n. dated A grudge (on someone).
29. n. An act of swallowing an entire drink in one.
30. n. American football 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.
31. n. crosswords A clue whose solution runs vertically in the grid.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Fine, soft, hairy outgrowth from the skin or surface of animals or plants, not matted and fleecy like wool.
2. n. (Zoöl.) The soft under feathers of birds. They have short stems with soft rachis and bards and long threadlike barbules, without hooklets.
3. n. (Bot.) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the seeds of certain plants, as of the thistle.
4. n. The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.
5. n. That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down.
6. v. rare To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.
7. n. 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.
8. n. engraving 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.
9. n. A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war.
10. n. colloq. A state of depression; low state; abasement.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. adv. In a low or the lowest position, literally or figuratively; at the bottom of a descent; below the horizon; on the ground; in a condition of humility, dejection, misery, and the like; in a state of quiet.
14. adv. From a remoter or higher antiquity.
15. adv. From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence.
16. prep. In a descending direction along; from a higher to a lower place upon or within; at a lower place in or on
17. prep. Hence: Towards the mouth of a river; towards the sea
18. v. Archaic or Colloq. To cause to go down; to make descend; to put down; to overthrow, as in wrestling; hence, to subdue; to bring down.
19. v. To go down; to descend.
20. adj. rare Downcast.
21. adj. obsolete Downright; absolute; positive.
22. adj. Downward; going down; sloping.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs)
2. adv. spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position
3. adv. from an earlier time
4. adj. being or moving lower in position or less in some value
5. n. English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896)
6. adv. in an inactive or inoperative state
7. adj. shut.
8. adj. filled with melancholy and despondency
9. n. soft fine feathers
10. adj. lower than previously
11. v. bring down or defeat (an opponent)
12. n. (American football) a complete play to advance the football
13. v. eat immoderately
14. adv. to a lower intensity
15. v. shoot at and force to come down
16. v. cause to come or go down
17. v. drink down entirely
18. adj. extending or moving from a higher to a lower place
19. adv. away from a more central or a more northerly place
20. adj. understood perfectly
21. adj. becoming progressively lower
22. n. (usually plural) a rolling treeless highland with little soil
23. adv. paid in cash at time of purchase
24. adj. not functioning (temporarily or permanently)
25. v. improve or perfect by pruning or polishing
26. adj. being put out by a strikeout