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单词 down
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downn.1

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Forms: early Old English duun- (in compounds), Old English done (dative, transmission error), Old English dunan (dative, rare), Old English þune (Mercian, dative, transmission error), Old English–early Middle English dun, late Old English ðun (transmission error), late Old English–early Middle English dune, early Middle English don (in copy of Old English charter), Middle English dounne, Middle English–1600s doune, Middle English–1700s downe, Middle English– down; also Scottish pre-1700 dovne, pre-1700 1800s doun.
Origin: Probably a borrowing from a Celtic language.
Etymology: Probably ultimately < the Celtic base reflected by Gaulish dūnon (in place names) fortified enclosure, hill fort, also (in a glossary) hill, Welsh †din fortress, hill fort, city, Old Breton din fortress (Breton din ), Early Irish dún fortress (see town n. and the discussion at that entry; compare also dun n.3). See also discussion of forms in continental West Germanic languages at dune n.It is unclear whether the word shows the reflex of a Germanic borrowing on the continent (compare Old Dutch dūn , dūno dune n.) or an independent reborrowing in Britain. Gaulish dūnon is a widespread place-name element on the continent; the corresponding British base is reflected in the second element of some Latin place names, in which it apparently denotes a fortified enclosure: e.g. Camulodunum (Colchester, Essex), Branodunum (Brancaster, Norfolk), Sorviodunum (Old Sarum, Salisbury, Wiltshire), and Segedunum (near Wallsend, Northumberland). Apparent discontinuity in place-name use. There is no clear evidence of continuity of use as a place-name element between British and Old English; in some Old English adaptations of Latin place names, this element is replaced by ceaster fortification, walled town, Roman town (see chester n.1; compare e.g. Colchester and Brancaster, cited above). It has sometimes been suggested that the name of Briudun , Leicestershire (731 in a Latin context; now Breedon on the Hill) continues an unattested British compound place name, but this is more likely to show a later tautological formation, in which Old English dūn was added to the British base of Welsh bre hill, mountain. For an early (and glossed) attestation of use in a place name clearly formed within English, compare Uilfaresdun, id est mons Uilfari (731 in Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica 3. 14, with reference to an unidentified hill near Catterick, North Riding, Yorkshire). Use as noun in Old English. In Old English usually a strong feminine, although a masculine or neuter genitive form dūnes is occasionally attested, whereas the Celtic base was apparently neuter. Compare (apparently < English) post-classical Latin duna , dunna , dona , douna (feminine) down, in uses implying pasturage in localities in Hampshire and Sussex (1086 and frequently in the 13th cent. in British sources), (in marshland) high ground (1194 and frequently in the 13th cent. in British sources in this sense; compare sense 2 and the discussion below). The continental West Germanic parallels cited at dune n. are also feminines. Early sense development. With sense 2 compare downland n.1 and see discussion of quot. eOE at that entry. The early development of sense 2 is not easy to trace. As a place-name element, the Old English word apparently frequently refers to low hills with a level or extended summit, especially in certain settlement areas, e.g. in Essex (in names such as Berlesduna (1086; now Basildon)), although as a noun in more general use, the word may even refer to high mountains (compare quots. OE1, OE2 at sense 1). The characteristic distribution of early settlement names with this element, however, seems not generally to coincide with the uplands in southern and south-eastern England that are chiefly associated with sense 2. Uses in the established names for specific ranges of chalk hills are apparently post-medieval; compare e.g. the North Downs in Surrey and Kent (16th cent.) and the South Downs in Sussex and Hampshire (17th cent.). Specific senses. In senses 3 and 4 probably after Anglo-Norman doune dune (1376 with reference to the coast by Calais, or earlier), variant of Middle French dune (see dune n.); compare also the following early reference to the anchorage off Kent (see sense 3), although it is unclear if this should be interpreted as showing the Anglo-Norman or the Middle English word:1345–6 in N. H. Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 476 [A certain mariner, called] Lodman, [piloting..the same ship out of Burseldon... Item, To the same, piloting her out of] les Dounes. In the 17th cent. the anchorage is also referred to in Dutch as Duinen dunes. Compare also the name of Sandown Castle, in the dunes south of Sandwich (1199 as Sandon̄ ), one of the fortifications guarding the Downs anchorage. In sense 4 probably further influenced by Middle French dune and its etymon Dutch duin (see dune n.). With sense 5 compare earlier Southdown n.
†1. A hill; (also) a mountain. Obsolete except as passing into sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > [noun]
downlandeOE
downOE
highlandOE
high country1445
wold1472
high ground1489
upland1566
hill-country1582
Chiltern1627
downs country1791
altitude1853
upwold1875
top-land1877
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill > [noun]
cloudc893
downOE
hillc1000
penOE
holmc1275
woldc1275
clotc1325
banka1393
knotc1400
nipc1400
rist1577
kop1835
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 185 Þæt flod weox ða..& hit oferstah ealle duna.
OE Blickling Homilies 27 He hine lædde upon swiþe hea dune, & him æteowde eal eorþan rice.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 1 He genealæhte Hierusalem & com to Bethfage to Oliuetes Dune.
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) l. 256 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 307 Bi niȝte ope heiȝe dounes.
c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 85 (MED) Ase þou þoledest..Ope caluaryes doune.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xiv. xlv. 717 A downe [L. collis] is a litel swellynge or arerynge of erþe passynge þe pleyne grounde and nouȝt rechynge to hiȝnesse of an hille.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7186 Sampson..bar þe yates o þe tun, And laid þam on a hei dun.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 4045 Darke in dennes vndire dounes.
2. Chiefly in plural. An elevated stretch of open, uncultivated land with gently rolling hills; spec. (usually as the Downs) undulating chalk and limestone uplands in southern and south-eastern England, with few trees and used mainly for pasture.Also found in topographical names in the south of England, as e.g. the North Downs, the South Downs, the Berkshire Downs, the Sussex Downs.Some early examples may show contextual uses of sense 1. Compare discussion in the etymology.In quot. c1325 with reference to the site of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, near the village of Amesbury, Wiltshire.
ΚΠ
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 3110 To þe doune of ambresbury þes stones ybroȝt were..yset hii were þere.
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 51v (MED) Þat þey picche noȝt hir tentes..nyh stynkynge mores, ne in no hilles ne drye downes þat ben playn wiþ oute schadewynge of trees.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) xxi. iv. sig. ddvv An hondred thousand layed deed vpon the down.
1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. B*.iv To take my sheepe, and dwell vpon the downe.
1599 H. Petowe Philochasander & Elanira iv. sig. B2 The Calfe with many a prettie nibling Lam: Vppon the downes doe feede their hunger full.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 81 My boskie acres, and my vnshrubd downe . View more context for this quotation
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1646 (1955) II. 485 Downes of fine grasse, like some places of the South of England.
1694 Narbrough's Acct. Several Late Voy. 22 As bare as the Grass-Downs in England.
1701 London Gaz. No. 3751/8 3 Plates will be run for on the new Heat upon Epsom Downs.
1733 J. Swift On Poetry 12 So Geographers in Afric-Maps..o'er unhabitable Downs Place Elephants for want of Towns.
1778 Philos. Trans. 1777 (Royal Soc.) 67 386 Turf, equal to any of the finest on our sheep downs.
1826 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 21 Oct. 195 The down-farms in Wiltshire.
1831 Acct. Colony Van Diemen's Land 27 The road..passes through a pastoral district of fine thinly wooded downs, principally adapted for sheep grazing.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xvi. 275 On the broad downs..not a house was visible, nothing but Stonehenge.
1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. iii. 62 The undulating downs of Gilead.
1910 W. H. Hudson Shepherd's Life viii. 106 On the following day he was with his flock on the down and found himself with another shepherd.
1954 W. G. Hoskins Devon v. 93 He had a flock of over 700 sheep pasturing on the downs.
1980 Geogr. Mag. June 627/2 Positive planning measures, involving spending public money, have helped to conserve the Downs landscape.
2009 A. S. Byatt Children's Bk. (2010) xxvi. 299 A child remembers one scramble over the Downs, or zigzag trot through the woods, out of many.
3. the Downs: the name of an area of sheltered sea off the east coast of Kent between Deal and Sandwich, which provided a safe anchorage for ships negotiating the dangerous Goodwin Sands while sailing through the Straits of Dover.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > specific seas > [noun] > North Sea > part within Goodwin Sands
the Downs1452
1452 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1837) VI. 121 The Downes of Sandewyche.
c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 178 The vyntage come by londe ynne cartys unto London fro the Downys.
1513 E. Howard Let. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. I. 215 We cowd ryd no lenger ther withowt gret danger,..we weyd to get us in to the Downes.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxvv Sir Simon Mondford..was appoynted to kepe the downes, and the fiue Portes.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. True Hist. Siege Ostend 147 An other of the Kings shippes called the answer, whereof Bredgate was Captaine, who ridde at an Anchor South of the Downes.
1667 S. Pepys Diary 2 Jan. (1974) VIII. 1 To send all the ships we can possible to the Downes.
1702 Jrnl. of Brigantine 15 Oct. in Mariner's Mirror (1921) 7 359 Loosed the starboard yard arm of the foresail..and so scudded as well as we could for the Downs.
1773 J. Hawkesworth Acct. Voy. Southern Hemisphere III. iii. xiv. 395 About three [we] came to an anchor in the Downs, and went a-shore at Deal.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xxvi. 180 I had remained at Deal about three weeks, when an outward-bound Indiaman anchored in the Downs.
1858 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) III. 349 One morning when the darkness lifted, sixty strange sail were found at anchor in the Downs.
1911 Mariner′s Mirror 1 95 I left the Downs with a fleet of over 100 outward-bounders, clippers and all sorts.
1972 P. O'Brian Post Captain viii. 241 Before we reached the Downs he came to me in great secrecy and asked me for an antaphrodisiac.
2003 D. Cordingly Billy Ruffian (2004) iv. 54 Although the Goodwin Sands were, and are, a graveyard of ships they also provided shelter from easterly and south-easterly winds for ships anchored in the Downs.
†4. A sand dune. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill > [noun] > sand-hill
sand-hillc725
dene1278
down1523
sand down1604
dune1605
hummock1793
towan1803
sand-dune1830
medano1839
sea-bank1858
barchan1888
whaleback1918
fore-dune1921
seif1925
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. f. lxxi/2 Other by the downes [Fr. par les dunes] by the see syde, or elles aboue by the hyghe way.
a1609 F. Vere Commentaries (1657) 88 The space betwixt the sea and the sand-hills or Downs [by Nieuwpoort, Flanders], was commanded by the said hills.
1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. sig. T3 Sorely wounded on Sawco sands or Downs.
1750 T. Carte Gen. Hist. Eng. II. 470 Over the downs of sand by the sea side.
1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 117 Downs or Dunes are little hillocks of sand formed along the sea-coast..Downs sometimes intercept the flow of water to the sea.
1890 Ann. Rep. Chief of Engineers, United States Army II. iv. 2954 I have investigated the subject of reclaiming shifting sand downs, and caused..experiments to be made on the sands at Golden Gate Park.
1907 Sci. Amer. 3 Aug. Suppl. 67/2 Owing to the widespread damage that, has been created by the sea at the foot of the downs of the shores and beaches of Holland..it was resolved to test the efficacy of the ferro-concrete system upon one of the worst stretches.
5. Usually with capital initial. Any of various breeds of sheep originally raised for both meat and wool on the Downs of southern England (see sense 2), or developed from them by cross-breeding; (also) a sheep of such a breed. Chiefly attributive as Down breed, Down sheep, etc., or with qualifying word, as Dorset Down, Hampshire Down, Oxford Down. See also Southdown n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > specific breeds or members of
mug1596
down1721
Shropshire1768
Norfolk sheep1778
Ryeland1786
Southdown1786
Persian1794
Leicester1798
Southdowner1799
Ryeland1802
loaghtan1812
Manx loaghtan1812
herdwick1837
Wallachian1837
Norfolk1851
Teeswater1861
bluefaced Leicester1864
Rough Fell1871
Border Leicester1873
Mexican1878
Cheviot1883
fat-tail1888
pampas1892
pampas sheep1895
turbary1908
karakul1913
East Friesian1949
Texel1949
Norfolk Horn1961
Colbred1962
1721 R. Bradley Gen. Treat Husbandry & Gardening I. 19 Some, indeed, tell us that the agreeable flavour of the Down Mutton is owing to the wild Thyme, which those Creatures eat in great quantity on those high Lands, but I am of the Opinion that this is a Mistake.
1822 R. W. Dickson Compl. Syst. Improved Live Stock & Cattle Managem. I. 378/1 The most noted variety is that of Mr. Ellman, of Glynd, in Sussex, who is supposed to have first enlarged the down breed by the aid of polled or natt Berkshire tups.
1831 Lincoln Herald 21 Oct. 1/1 Prime young Downs sell at 4s. to 5s.
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 345/2 A heavier sort of sheep, a cross between the Somerset and the Down.
1878 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Ups & Downs xx. 245 Fancy three hundred acres in Oxfordshire, with a score or two of bullocks, and twice as many black-faced Down sheep.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 259/1 Dorset Down, one of the Down breed sheep with fine close wool which is used largely for Cheviot quality woollens and for hosiery yarns.
1989 S. Hall & J. Clutton-Brock 200 Years Brit. Farm Livestock i. 14 The longwools were soon superseded by the Down breeds.
2014 B. Smith Spinner's Bk. Fleece vi. 151 In addition to true Downs (Suffolk, Southdown, Oxford, Hampshire, Dorset Down, and Shropshire, for instance), I include in this chapter breeds with wool that looks and acts like that of the true Down breeds.

Phrases

† Coupled with dale in various phrases to refer to valleys and hills, or low land and upland. Frequently in down and dale. Cf. hill and dale at dale n.1 1a. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
OE Homily: De Sancto Iohanne (Corpus Cambr. 198) in Englische Studien (1885) 8 477 Paradisus is eall efenlang and efenbrad; nis ðær naðor ne dæl ne dune.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 13264 Nohht i dale. ne upp o dun.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10408 Hundes..þene vox driueð ȝeond dales & ȝeond dunes [c1300 Otho dounes].
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 4038 Wendeþ forþ..Ouer þe dounes & þe dales.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22532 Al þis werld bath dale and dune..Þe dals up-rise, þe fells dun fall.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Sir Thopas (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 85 By dale and eek by downe.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 265 Þou shalt go by downys and by dalys.
1522 Worlde & Chylde (de Worde) (1909) sig. A.v All is at my hande werke both by downe & by dale.
1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. ii. i. 27 The tame-lesse steed could well his wagon wield, Through downes and dales of the vneuen field.
1618 J. Taylor Pennyles Pilgrimage sig. C3v He sent his man with me, o're Dale and Downe.
1755 Gill Morice xvii. 11 The Lady sat on castil wa, Beheld baith dale and doun.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 37 By dale and down, We dwell afar from tower and town.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clare in Poems (new ed.) II. 198 She went by dale, and she went by down, With a single rose in her hair.
1897 L. P. Johnson Ireland 34 To me the tumult of the street Is no less music, than the sweet Surge of the wind among the wheat, By dale or down.
1929 G. R. Woodward Story of Arion & Dolphin 8 But as he fared o'er down or dale Whene'er he struck the magick wire Above the sound-board of his lyre.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

downn.2

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Forms: Middle English doume (transmission error), Middle English dounie (perhaps transmission error), Middle English dowyn, Middle English–1500s dawne, Middle English–1600s doun, Middle English–1600s doune, Middle English–1600s downe, Middle English– down; also Scottish pre-1700 done, pre-1700 dun.
Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian.
Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic dúnn soft feathers (Icelandic dúnn ), Old Swedish dun soft feathers (Swedish dun ), Danish dun soft feathers, fine facial hair), < the Germanic base seen also (with suffixation) in dust n.1 (compare Dutch forms cited at that entry). Compare Middle Low German dūne, German Daune, both ultimately borrowed from Scandinavian.
1.
a. The fine soft feathers forming the inner layer of a bird's plumage, often used for stuffing beds, pillows, etc. Also: the similar soft covering of a young bird before it is fledged. Cf. down feather n. at Compounds 2.See also eiderdown n. 1, powder-down n., swan's-down n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > feather > [noun] > down or down-feather
plumeOE
down1345
dowlc1535
plumule1782
powder-down1861
1345–9 Wardrobe Acct. Edward III in Archaeologia (1846) 31 53 iiij. auricular..stuffata de doune.., vj lb de doune.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 3021 (MED) Upon a fethrebed alofte He lith with many a pilwe of doun.
a1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess (Tanner 346) (1871) l. 250 Of downe of pure dovues white.
1465 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 321 Paid for iij. pelewes of downe, vij.s. viij.d.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 215/1 Downe of any yong byrde, follet.
1588 T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia sig. A4v Soft beds of downe or fethers.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 361 This hand, As soft as Doues-downe, and as white as it. View more context for this quotation
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 97/1 Down, is the Dant, or pure soft airy Feathers which have no Quills.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 172/2 All the rocks and insects about the island [sc. Iceland] are full of sea-fowls; hence come the finest downs, which are the plumage of a bird called Aidur or Eider.
1786 T. Baldwin Airopaidia ii. 10 Down, or small Feathers, to be loose in the Pocket, are thrown out, when enshrined in Clouds; or at any other Time, to shew the Rise or Fall of the Balloon.
1841 Penny Mag. Oct. 2 386/1 The plumage consists of an undervest of down (remarkable in some species, as the wild swan and the eider duck, for its softness and delicacy).
1870 J. Yeats Nat. Hist. Commerce 309 The development of feathers is always preceded by that of down, which constitutes the first covering of young birds.
1938 L. MacNeice I crossed Minch ii. viii. 120 Baby pigeons covered with yellow down.
1999 C. Mendelson Home Comforts lvii. 684/2 Most pillows are filled with down, feathers, a mixture of down and feathers, polyester foam, or foam or ‘synthetic down’ made of some other substance, including rubber.
2010 Canal Boats Apr. 83/4 Although able to run, ducklings cannot fly until their down has been replaced with ‘contour’ feathers.
b. figurative and in figurative contexts. Something likened to down, esp. in being soft or for lying on. Now chiefly poetic.
ΚΠ
1628 Z. Boyd Last Battell Soule v. 676 Who in the dayes of their flesh did sleepe most softlie in the downes of securitie, caring for nothing, but their Purses and their Paunches?
1634 J. Ford Chron. Hist. Perkin Warbeck iii. sig. F3 Must I breake from the downe of thy embraces, To put on steele.
1708 T. Baker Fine Lady's Airs iii. 36 Her flowing Locks dispos'd in artful Circles, losely attir'd, and on a Down of Roses, with laughing Cupids hov'ring round the Bed.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 74. ⁋7 To lull him on the down of absolute authority.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time I. v. 207 The silken down of happiness complete.
1851 T. H. Chivers Eonchs of Ruby 162 Soft as the pale cold light Rained from the full-orbed moon Upon the down of night.
1904 H. Church Poems 60 Come thou with thy most gossamer broidery Of cheerfulness, too light to lift the down Of the imagination's reverie.
1957 S. Lanot Songs of Brown Man 11 Your bosom seems a down of clouds where moonlight nests.
2017 P. H. Christopher Spanish Knight's Secret 320 It had snowed just before they arrived. A down of white blanketed the length of Charles Bridge.
2. Soft, fibrous material attached to the seeds of some plants which aids their dispersal by the wind; pappus. Also: short, soft hairs on the leaves, stem, fruit, or other parts of a plant; pubescence.Earliest in thistledown n. a. See also fen-down n. at fen n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > hair or bristle > [noun] > downy covering
downa1382
woolc1400
cotton1551
frieze1640
dowl1661
tomentum1693
pubescence1760
pubes1772
shag1774
indumentum1847
shaggy hairs1884
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. v. 15 A wlle loke, or thistil-doun [L. lanugo].
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) xi. l. 219 He..Most pike away the downe of al the tre.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid xii. Prol. 119 Seyr downis smaill on dent de lion sprang.
1551 W. Turner New Herball sig. B ivv Alopecurus..hath..a great thycke and busshy eare full of longe downes.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §560 There be also Plants, that..haue a Kinde of Downy or Veluet Rine, vpon their Leaues..which Downe or Nap commeth of a Subtill Spirit, in a Soft or Fat Substance.
1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian Enlarged 184 The Cotton or Doun of Quinces.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) I. 213 There is not a down upon a plant..but what has it's utility.
1803 A. F. M. Willich & J. Mease Domest. Encycl. (Amer. ed.) II. 252/2 Cotton-grass... The poorer class of people stuff their pillows with the woolly down of this plant, and also employ it in making wicks for candles.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. I. 6 The Calyx..is at first a mere ring, which ultimately becomes the pappus or down.
1954 Irish Naturalists' Jrnl. 11 190 Stems reddish brown, rather densely covered with whitish down.
2014 J. Eastman Wildflowers Eastern U.S. 130/2 Mice and goldfinches may collect the seedhead down for nesting.
3. Soft, fine facial hair, esp. that of adolescent boys. In later use also: soft, fine hair elsewhere on the body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [noun] > down
mosiness1538
downc1540
mossiness1625
poil1647
duvet1934
c1540 J. Bellenden in tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. sig. A.iii I saw ane crownit kyng appeir With tendir downis rising on his beird.
1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) ix. f. 117 In maner euen a very boy as then With short soft Downe about his chin.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie D 979 Doune..the soft heares or mossnesse in ye visages of young folkes.
1609 W. Shakespeare Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. K3 Smal shew of man was yet vpon his chinne, His phenix downe began but to appeare.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis viii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 440 The callow Down began To shade my Chin, and call me first a Man.
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 44 Already it [sc. the pubic area] had put forth the signs of forwardness in the sprout of a soft down over it.
1794 N. E. Kindersley Specimens Hindoo Lit. 121 The soft down upon her person is regular and fine.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. vii. x. 389 With the down of youthhood still on his chin.
1856 R. B. Todd & W. Bowman Physiol. Anat. II. 594 The whole surface [of the foetus] is covered with lanugo or soft down.
1918 W. D. Steele Land's End 53 I'd never noticed her arms before. They were rounded and graceful and covered with a soft down.
1973 E. Leroux in S. Gray Writers' Territory 143 Grandsons and granddaughters from the city in the uniform of the teenager..bend to kiss Tante, the unknown blood relative, on the down of her upper lip.
2010 P. Kaye Your Pregnancy Week by Week 224 The majority of your baby's lanugo hair, the soft down that covered his body to protect it from the amniotic fluid, has been shed.
4. A downy or fluffy substance, esp. on the surface of something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > types of softness > [noun] > softness and downiness or fluffiness > downy or fluffy substance
down1542
flue1589
lanugo1677
fluff1790
oose1822
1542 T. Elyot Bibliotheca Abeston, a stone of the coulour of yron, found in Arabia, whiche hath growynge aboute it a thynge lyke vnto wulle, and that is called the doune of Salamandre.
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1593) 988 There is a kind of downe or curdle upon Wisedom like the traine of Gentle women, which is more then needes, which wee call the crotchets of the braine.
1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. I. 240 Nitre..effloresces..on their surface, in the form of a crystalline down.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xii. 101 The blackness of the surfaces arose from their being entirely composed of a fine down of quartz.
1918 Jrnl. Dept. Agric. Victoria 15 691 After a while, on the under side of the spots..a milk-white efflorescence, or down, makes its appearance—whence the name of Downy Mildew.
1979 E. C. G. Pinhey Moths Southern Afr. x. 197/1 Army worm eggs are laid in clumps..and are covered with down from the female's body.
2006 H. G. Schabel Forest Entomol. E. Afr. 237 The beetle..is 60–80 mm long, smooth, dark brown and covered with a brownish-grey down that rubs off easily.

Compounds

C1. Instrumental, similative, etc., as down-covered, down-filled, down-headed, down-soft, etc.
ΚΠ
1590 T. Lodge Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie f. 9 Two mounts faire marble white, downe-soft and daintie.
1614 R. Tailor Hogge hath lost Pearle v. sig. G2 The downe-soft white Of Ladies tempting breast.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 32 He..perch'd on the down-headed grass.
1845 E. Cook Poems 2nd Ser. 184 Down-covered peaches.
1960 O. Manning Great Fortune xiv. 165 Nothing to be seen but the mazing, down-soft drift of snow.
2009 J. Kellerman True Detectives xlii. 418 Mason Book was still totally out of it, napping peacefully under a down-filled Frette duvet, in the guest room.
C2.
† down-beard n. Obsolete rare a clump of thistledown.
ΚΠ
1843 T. Carlyle Dr. Francia in Foreign Q. Rev. July 558 Every idle volume flies abroad like an idle globular downbeard.
down bed n. chiefly historical a bed that has a mattress stuffed with down.
ΚΠ
1483 in G. Neilson & H. Paton Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1918) II. Introd. p. cxxiii A doun bed with a boster, with rufe and hedis of erras.
?1570 T. Drant Two Serm. ii. sig. h.iiv In vs Lorde thou art day and night tumbled miserably before their doores: In vs thy down bed pillowes are hard pauement stones.
1601 R. Chester Loves Martyr 141* Louing in such a downe-bed to be placed.
1692 J. Locke Some Thoughts conc. Educ. (1693) 24 A tender weakly constitution is very much owing to Downe-Beds.
1796 T. W. Tone Writings (2009) II. 429 There is not..a grenadier in the Compagnie Bloom that will not sleep tonight in his hammock more contentedly than the Archbishop of Dublin in a down bed.
2012 B. Donagan in E. Charters et al. Civilians & War in Europe, 1618–1815 iv. 64 Six very fine and large down beds with bolsters, valances and blankets.
down feather n. a feather of the type from which the down of birds is composed, having a short shaft and soft loose barbules which are not linked together by hooks.
ΚΠ
1722 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 32 104 A Down Feather tied to the end of a small Stick.
1882 H. N. Martin & W. A. Moale Handbk. Vertebr. Dissect. ii. 97 Lying beneath the contour feathers are down feathers (plumulæ).
1959 C. J. Hylander Feathers & Flight i. 10 Down feathers are the first body covering of baby birds.
2005 D. Couzens Collins Birds 40 Cormorants and shags... Only the inner layer of down feathers keeps the skin dry, while the rest of the plumage periodically gets soaked.
down pillow n. a pillow stuffed with down.
ΚΠ
1459 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 226 Doune pelose.
1589 T. Lupton Dreame of Deuill & Diues sig. a8 He that slepeth on the softest down pillow in the world, without this, he may sleepe soundly, but I am sure he doth not sleepe safely.
1863 M. E. Braddon John Marchmont's Legacy III. i. 6 [He] raised himself amongst the down pillows.
2002 Country Life 19 Dec. (Travel Suppl.) 12/2 Fluffy down pillows, linen coverlets and the fragrant scent of slow burning candles all feature in the nightly turndown service.
down thistle n. now rare the cotton thistle, Onopordon acanthium.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > thistles
thistlec725
carduea1398
wolf's-thistlea1400
cardoona1425
wolf-thistle1526
cotton-thistle1548
gum-thistle1548
oat thistle1548
black chameleon1551
ixia1551
Saint Mary thistle1552
milk thistle1562
cow-thistle1565
bedeguar1578
carline1578
silver thistle1578
white chameleon1578
globe thistle1582
ball thistle1597
down thistle1597
friar's crown1597
lady's thistle1597
gummy thistle1598
man's blood1601
musk thistle1633
melancholy thistle1653
Scotch thistle1660
boar-thistle1714
spear- thistle1753
gentle thistle1760
woolly thistle1760
wool-thistle1769
bur-thistlea1796
Canada thistle1796
pine thistle1807
plume thistle1814
melancholy plume thistle1825
woolly-headed thistle1843
dog thistle1845
dwarf thistle1846
welted thistle1846
pixie glove1858
Mexican thistle1866
Syrian thistle1866
bull thistle1878
fish belly1878
fish-bone-thistle1882
green thistle1882
herringbone thistle1884
Californian thistle1891
winged thistle1915
fish-thistles-
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 990 The downe Thistle..is thought of diuers to be that..report[ed] to be called Corona fratrum, or Friers Crowne.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum Table 1738 Downe or Cotten Thistle.
1893 W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden (ed. 3) 554/1 O[nopordon] Acanthium (Down Thistle) is a bold and vigorous native plant.
2004 W. Winterrowd Annuals & Tender Plants N. Amer. Gardens 339/1 Common names: Scots thistle, cotton thistle, down thistle, Robert Bruce, onopordum.
down tree n. chiefly Jamaican the balsa tree, Ochroma pyramidale, whose seed pods contain a silky fibre.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > non-British timber trees > [noun] > of South America or West Indies
sweetwood1607
mastic1657
acajou1666
bastard locust tree1670
bastard locust tree1670
alligator wood1696
muskwood1696
lancewood1697
rodwood1716
cog-wood1725
soapwood1733
down tree?1740
pigeon plum1743
break-axe tree1756
horse-wood1756
loblolly whitewood1756
Spanish elm1756
trumpet-tree1756
ahuehuete1778
ocote1787
locust tree1795
Madeira wood1796
peroba1813
roble1814
louro1816
cecropia1824
purple heart1825
wallaba1825
trumpet-wood1836
gumbo-limbo1837
poui1838
quebracho1839
snake-wood1843
yacca1843
horseflesh wood1851
necklace tree1858
Honduras rosewood1860
turanira1862
softwood1864
wattle-wood1864
balsa tree1866
primavera1871
rauli1874
lemon-wood1879
wheel-tree1882
Spanish stopper1883
gurgeon-stopper1884
pinkwood-tree1884
stopper1884
sloth-tree1885
imbaubaa1893
Spanish cedar1907
amarant1909
Parana pine1916
imbuya1919
mastic-bully1920
banak1921
timbo1924
becuiba1934
?1740 Importance Jamaica to Great-Brit. 54 The Down Tree is like it [sc. the Trumpet Tree].
1838 J. Sturge in J. Sturge & T. Harvey Jamaica in 1837 (2010) xv. 294 Among other beautiful trees, we observed the down tree, with full crops of its curious pods of vegetable beaver.
c1997 E. Garraway et al. Some Common Jamaican Trees (Nat. Hist. Soc. Jamaica) 12 The Balsa is also called Down Tree and Corkwood.
† downweed n. Obsolete common cudweed or cottonrose, Filago vulgaris.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > cudweeds
horewortc1400
chafeweed1548
chafewort1548
cudweed1548
cudwort1548
cartafilago1551
cottonweed1562
downweed1562
petty cotton1578
small cotton1578
file-wort1597
live forever1597
livelong1597
life-everlasting1629
white plantain1687
petty coy1736
cat's-foot1739
owl's crown1787
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 11v Cottenwede..maye be called in English Downewede because the leafe broken is lyke Downe or cotton.
1898 N. L. Britton & A. Brown Illustr. Flora Northern U.S. III. 395 Gifola Germánica (L.) Dumort... Old names Downweed, Hoarwort, Owl's Crown, Chafe-weed, Childing Cudweed.

Derivatives

'downlike adj.
ΚΠ
1670 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 5 1152 In the same Box are Pods of a Vegetable, we call Silk-grass, which are full of a kind of most fine down-like Cotton-wool.
1795 W. Lewin Insects Great Brit. 38 Most of the caterpillars are covered with a fine downlike hair.
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 747/1 The hairs..becoming finer and more down-like as they descend.
1998 Nature 25 June 729/2 These feathers are also vaned and barbed, and down-like feathers are also preserved.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† downn.3

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: down int.
Etymology: < down int.
Obsolete.
A refrain of a song. Cf. down int.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > a song > [noun] > refrain
refraid?a1439
overword?a1513
refrain1530
foot1538
counterverse1570
faburden1580
burden1598
holding1598
chorus1601
foreburden1603
bob1606
ludden1607
down1611
nonnya1616
rame?c1625
tag1717
overcome?a1800
overturn1825
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Refrain d'une Balade, the Refret, burthen, or downe of a Ballade.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia at Refret The Burthen or Down of a Song or Ballad.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018).

downn.4

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Forms: see down adv.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: down adv.
Etymology: < down adv.
1.
a. A going down, a descent (literal and figurative); an adverse circumstance or turn of events; a low point. Frequently paired with up; see also up and down n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > [noun]
avalingc1380
descendinga1382
downcominga1398
lowinga1398
descenta1413
descencec1425
descensionc1425
degression1486
downcomea1522
downstroke1551
decourse1585
vailinga1593
nod1597
delapsion1603
delapse1625
down1647
fall1647
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition > low condition or low point
down1647
lowlight1882
1647 S. Rutherford Christ Dying ii. 250 There be many turnings, windings, ups, and downes, ere it come to this.
1710 Brit. Apollo 17–20 Feb. Wit has her Up's and Downs.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xvi. 203 Fraudulent transactions have their downs as well as ups.
1857 ‘B. Cornwall’ Dramatic Scenes iii. 306 One Who worketh and singeth and worketh Till down of the sun.
1857 F. Locker London Life 20 Life is chequer'd, a patchwork of smiles and of frowns; We valued its ups, let us muse on its downs.
1921 Financial World 21 Mar. 534/2 The which suggests that ups or downs of foreign exchange have little or nothing to do with the ups or downs of foreign or Americo-International securities.
1960 Times 5 Oct. 13/6 By 9.30 a.m we were stepping along the next ‘down’ towards Camp IV.
2011 C. Moran How to be Woman (2012) i. 28 I am accepting of the downs, as well as the ups, of love.
†b. An act of knocking a person down. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1840 W. G. Simms Border Beagles I. xi. 170 He downed him; a fair stupid down.
c. colloquial. A state of depression or low spirits; a person who or thing which induces such a state of depression. Cf. down adj. 3, downer n. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun]
unlustOE
sorrowfulnessa1250
heavinessc1275
elengenessec1320
dullnessc1369
tristourc1380
murknessc1390
tristesse1390
faintness1398
ungladnessa1400
droopingc1400
heavity14..
dejectionc1450
terne?a1513
disconsolation1515
descence1526
marea1529
sadness?1537
dumpishness1548
unblessedness1549
dolorousness1553
ruefulness?1574
dolefulness1586
heartlessness1591
languishment1591
mopishness1598
soul-sickness1603
contristation1605
damp1606
gloominess1607
sableness1607
uncheerfulnessa1617
disconsolateness1624
cheerlessnessa1631
dejectedness1633
droopingness1635
disanimation1637
lowness1639
desponsion1641
disconsolacy1646
despondency1653
dispiritedness1654
chagrin1656
demission1656
jawfall1660
weightedness1660
depression1665
disconsolancy1665
grumness1675
despondence1676
despond1678
disheartenednessa1680
glumness1727
low1727
gloom1744
low-spiritedness1754
blue devils1756
black dog1776
humdudgeon1785
blue devilism1787
dispiritude1797
wishtnessc1800
downheartedness1801
blue-devilage1816
dispiritment1827
downcastness1827
depressiveness1832
dolorosity1835
lugubriosity1840
disconsolance1847
down1856
heavy-heartedness1860
lugubriousness1879
sullenness1885
low key1886
melancholia1896
burn-out1903
mokus1924
downness1927
mopiness1927
deflation1933
wallow1934
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun] > depressing quality > depressing thing, person, or circumstances
cloudc1430
palla1450
melancholya1475
downdraughta1681
Job's comforter1738
damper1748
killjoy1776
wet blanket1810
down-drag1814
chill1821
dismals1829
shadow1855
down1856
a skeleton at the feast (or banquet)1857
wet blanket1857
depressor1868
dampener1887
sorry-go-round1898
wet smack1927
bringdown1935
droopy drawers1939
big chill1943
party pooper1947
misery1951
party poop1951
grinch1966
downer1969
1856 ‘C. Bede’ Tales College Life 101 He has been ‘all in the downs’, lately; and we thought that a dose of Bessie's flirtation would do him good.
1944 J. Cary Horse's Mouth xxxi. 200 She used to come to me every night and say what a pity it was if he'd hanged himself again. ‘But he's always so up and down. Oh dear, I do hate his downs.’
1962 C. Isherwood Diary 28 Oct. in Sixties (2010) II. 235 He is in despair. He says that now he doesn't take Dexamyl he only has downs, no ups.
1969 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) 4 6 School after four years is really a down.
1970 D. Mitchell Thumb Tripping 167 ‘You're really a down tonight, Gary.’ It was Davey telling him, ‘Man, don't be a drag this way. Just groove.’
1984 Times 20 Dec. 18 All athletes have a down after a supreme test like that.
2001 Clovis (New Mexico) News Jrnl. 7 Oct. 12 a/1 Her husband sometimes skipped medication, which made him either sink into deep downs or soar to incoherent highs.
d. slang (originally U.S.). A depressant or tranquillizing drug, especially a barbiturate; = downer n. 4. Cf. up n. 7. Frequently in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > sedative drug or tablet
tranquillizer1800
goof ball1938
goof pill1948
pill1951
bomber1962
rainbow1963
downer1966
downie1966
down1967
disco biscuit1981
1967 Esquire Sept. 192/2 Then there are the downs—the codeine or fake codeine cough syrups.
1970 G. Scott-Heron Vulture ii. 91 If you wanted, he could get some depressants, or ‘downs’, but black people don't dig that too tough.
1977 Gay News 24 Mar. 23/2 Another stranger, on downs, is making a minor nuisance of himself.
1982 L. Block Eight Million Ways to Die xxii. 200 It's mostly downs. A lot of tranks.
2010 M. L. Sullivan Raisin' Cain vii. 153 You'd be so keyed up from playing; it helped to take something to bring you down. You either drank or took a down.
2.
†a. slang (Australian in later use). An alert or alarm which causes a criminal to abandon a planned crime; a warning that a crime is about to take place; a suspicion; a suggestion of illegality. Cf. down adv. 29. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. (at cited word) A down is a suspicion, alarm, or discovery, which taking place, obliges yourself and palls to give up or desist from the business..to put a down upon a man, is to give information of any robbery or fraud he is about to perpetrate, so as to cause his failure or detection.
1821 Life D. Haggart 53 We all left the house without paying him; he rose the down, but we escaped.
1828 Hobart Town Courier 2 Feb. 3/1 When the ill-disposed, the sheep-stealers, runaways and others, know from the public prints that there is what is called a down upon them,—that all their motions are watched and scrutinized.
1892 Austral. Jrnl. June 528/2 Take my advice and take the watchhouse for it, and come up town and be fined five bob, like a brick, to take the down off.
b. colloquial (originally Australian). A tendency to view a person or thing with suspicion and disapproval; a prejudice, a grudge. Chiefly in to have a down on: to dislike, to regard unfavourably, to be ill-disposed towards.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > dislike > [verb (transitive)]
mislikea1225
to like illa1350
to have no fancy with1465
mislovec1485
abominec1500
not to look ata1529
to have no will of, (also in)1548
misaffect1586
to have or take a stitch againsta1591
dislike1593
to take (a) toy to (also at)1598
disfavour1599
disgust1601
disaffect1609
mistaste1613
disrelisha1616
dispalate1630
abominate1652
disfancy1657
to have it in for1825
to have a down on1835
to sour on1862
to go off ——1877
derry1896
the mind > emotion > anger > indignation or resentment > [noun] > a grudge
quarrel1340
grudge1531
heart-burningsa1533
eelist1552
pritch1563
stitcha1591
ingrudge1606
disobligationa1754
down1835
to have a downer on1866
hard-on1949
1835 Australian 7 Apr. The Gazette has what the Colonist calls ‘a down’ upon the Domain; and is always endeavouring to make people uneasy, about the pleasantest, and perhaps the safest walk in the Colony.
1856 W. W. Dobie Recoll. Visit Port-Phillip v. 84 The bushranger had been in search of another squatter, on whom ‘he said he had a down’.
1893 J. A. Barry Steve Brown's Bunyip 193 More especially had they a ‘down’ on people who wore a goatee and snuffled when they talked.
1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. ii. iv. 310 Westall has a down on him.
1904 Daily Chron. 8 Dec. 8/1 Why this ‘down’ on an always useful, sometimes dainty, garment?
1916 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 27 Dec. 199 They've got a down on arrogance and swank.
1947 W. S. Maugham Creatures of Circumstance 151 She had a down on Lady Kastellan and didn't care what she said about her.
2004 J. Wilson Diamond Girls 17 She always had a down on me, my mum, said I'd go to the bad.
3. The position or action of a dog lying down in response to a command to do so. Cf. down adv. 25b.
ΚΠ
1856 W. N. Hutchinson Dog Breaking (ed. 3) ii. 15 To perfect him in the ‘Down’, that difficult part of his education,—difficult, because it is unnatural,—practise it in your walks.
c1948 E. H. S. Longhurst Dog Training 158 Tests for obedience classes..Recall from Sit or Down (dog to be recalled by handler when stationary..).
2009 G. T. Fisher Thinking Dog ix. 171 These behaviors represent six actions: sit from stand, sit up from down, stand from sit, stand from down, down from stand, down from sit.
4. Dominoes. The privilege of playing first; the laying of the first domino; the first domino laid. Cf. pose n.6 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > table game > dominoes > [noun] > actions
follow1677
down1863
pose1865
1863 Bell's Life in London 15 Feb. 5/6 The game was double sixes, seven dominoes each, 21 chalk game. Coward won the down, and started off in style by scoring the first six chalks.
?1870 F. Hardy & J. R. Ware Mod. Hoyle 94 In leading ‘the down’ from a hand consisting of a high double and several light dominoes, lead the double.
1912 W. C. Brookshire Lost Treasure Restored xxv. 180 David was fortunate enough in securing the six-four and made ten on the down.
1975 Texas Monthly Mar. 73/2 Uncle ‘Vit’ Vittitow, though an honest man, so cherished victory that one had to take care he wouldn't claim the ‘down’ out of turn.
5. American Football and Canadian Football. A chance for a team to advance the ball, ending when the ball becomes dead, such as when the ball carrier is tackled or the ball goes out of play.A team must advance at least ten yards in a series of four or (in Canadian football) three downs in order to keep possession of the ball, although rules regarding the number of downs permitted and yards required have changed over time.
ΚΠ
1882 Amer. Inter-collegiate Foot-ball Rules 1882 11 They must give up the ball to the opposite side at the spot where the fourth down is made.
1893 W. K. Post Harvard Stories 22 After three downs Spofford dropped back.
1927 Observer 11 Dec. 16/3 After the kick-off the side that has the ball must gain ten yards in a maximum of four ‘downs’. Otherwise it loses the ball.
1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 18/3 Fifteen of Montreal's first downs were earned on the ground to six for the Riders.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 28 Oct. b14/1 There is no complete linebacker, so we'll wait a couple rounds, we'll get a run plugger for first and second down.
†6. A train or coach travelling away from the capital or principal terminus; a down (down adj. 1c) train or coach. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1884 Graphic 15 Nov. 503/2 To spend pleasant quarters of an hour in waiting for the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’.
1905 Statesman 23 Aug. 6/7 No. 8 Down Agra Passenger (to be called No. 4 Down) will leave Agra fort 3 mts. earlier.
†7. A cry of ‘down with’ (see down with —— ! at down adv. 26a); a cry of disapproval. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1889 Times (Weekly ed.) 13 Dec. 17/4 The others..at once raised ‘hurrahs’ for him..and ‘downs’ for the Ministry.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

Downn.5

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Origin: From a proper name. Etymon: proper name Down.
Etymology: < the name of John Langdon Haydon Down (1828–96), English physician, who described the facial and certain other physical features of the syndrome in 1866 (see quot. 1866 at Mongolian adj. 3).
I. Compounds.
1. Down's syndrome n. (also Down syndrome) a congenital condition characterized by a distinctive pattern of physical characteristics including a flattened skull, pronounced folds of skin in the inner corners of the eyes, large tongue, and short stature, and by some degree of limitation of intellectual ability and social and practical skills.Down’s syndrome most commonly results from the presence of a third copy of chromosome 21, a condition which is associated with increasing maternal age. Cf. trisomy-21 at trisomic adj. and n. Derivatives.Congenital heart defects are also significantly more common in persons with Down’s syndrome than in the general population.An earlier name for this syndrome was mongolism (now considered to be misleading and offensive).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > congenital or hereditary syndromes > [noun]
amyelia1865
amelia1872
congenital myotonia1886
myotonia congenita1887
Thomsen's disease1890
von Recklinghausen's disease1899
pseudoxanthoma1900
Werdnig–Hoffmann1903
myotonia atrophica1908
Fröhlich1909
Milroy's disease1909
Lindau disease1928
Steinert's disease1932
von Hippel–Lindau disease1932
Werner's syndrome1934
Sturge–Weber syndrome1935
gargoylism1936
Morgagni's syndrome1936
Hurler's disease1937
von Willebrand1941
Turner1942
autism1944
hypophosphatasia1948
Klinefelter1950
mucopolysaccharidosis1952
progeria1957
Pendred1960
Down's syndrome1961
Patau's syndrome1961
Marinesco–Sjögren syndrome1962
cri du chat syndrome1964
Prader–Willi syndrome1964
Noonan syndrome1965
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome1966
Wernicke–Korsakoff1966
Down1967
mannosidosis1969
mucolipidosis1970
Asperger's syndrome1971
Angelman syndrome1972
adrenoleukodystrophy1973
SCID1973
severe combined immune deficiency1973
Miller–Dieker syndrome1980
Asperger1988
Asperger's disorder1994
1961 G. Allen et al. in Lancet 8 Apr. 775/2 Some of the undersigned are inclined to replace the term ‘mongolism’ by such designations as ‘Langdon-Down anomaly’, or ‘Down's syndrome or anomaly’ or ‘congenital acromicria’.
1978 M. Pines Inside Cell 36 Down's syndrome (mongolism) can now be detected before birth, by withdrawing a sample of amniotic fluid from the expectant mother's uterus..and counting the chromosomes in cells which the growing fetus shed in this fluid.
1989 Time 6 Nov. 12 Your critic is probably right in commenting..that sappy, sugar-coated portrayals of individuals with Down syndrome do little to make the public aware.
2005 D. Koontz Velocity (2006) xli. 274 Had she known that he believed he possessed the wisdom and the right to determine whether a Down's Syndrome baby..enjoyed a quality of life worth living, she might have changed physicians.
2017 Chicago Daily Herald (Nexis) 5 Feb. (Neighbor section) 1 This family-friendly musical will be performed by a cast that includes many actors with Down syndrome.
2. In the genitive and attributive. Affected by Down's syndrome; of or relating to Down's syndrome.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > congenital or hereditary syndromes > [adjective]
Meige1950
nemaline1963
Down1964
1964 Jrnl. Faculty Sci. Hokkaido Univ. 6th Ser. 15 361 Chromosome counts in one suspected Down's case..showed that the patient had a normal complement of 46 chromosomes.
1977 Jrnl. Med. Genetics 14 44/2 We are hopeful that soon it will be possible to define a woman's risk of producing a Down's child with considerably more accuracy than from an estimate based on age alone.
1987 C. A. Clarke Human Genetics & Med. (ed. 3) viii. 62 Very occasionally ‘Down’ women have babies.
1999 Guardian 23 Nov. ii. 8/5 In Down's pregnancies, the nuchal fold is enlarged and the scans can show this fairly early.
2004 E. Graver Awake v. 82 I see it all the time with my students, how they are with the Down's kids.
II. Simple uses.
3. In the genitive, used absol. Down's syndrome.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > congenital or hereditary syndromes > [noun]
amyelia1865
amelia1872
congenital myotonia1886
myotonia congenita1887
Thomsen's disease1890
von Recklinghausen's disease1899
pseudoxanthoma1900
Werdnig–Hoffmann1903
myotonia atrophica1908
Fröhlich1909
Milroy's disease1909
Lindau disease1928
Steinert's disease1932
von Hippel–Lindau disease1932
Werner's syndrome1934
Sturge–Weber syndrome1935
gargoylism1936
Morgagni's syndrome1936
Hurler's disease1937
von Willebrand1941
Turner1942
autism1944
hypophosphatasia1948
Klinefelter1950
mucopolysaccharidosis1952
progeria1957
Pendred1960
Down's syndrome1961
Patau's syndrome1961
Marinesco–Sjögren syndrome1962
cri du chat syndrome1964
Prader–Willi syndrome1964
Noonan syndrome1965
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome1966
Wernicke–Korsakoff1966
Down1967
mannosidosis1969
mucolipidosis1970
Asperger's syndrome1971
Angelman syndrome1972
adrenoleukodystrophy1973
SCID1973
severe combined immune deficiency1973
Miller–Dieker syndrome1980
Asperger1988
Asperger's disorder1994
1967 Amer. Jrnl. Mental Deficiency 71 433/1 Cases of Down's showing few typical physical signs were more often the most retarded.
1994 Harper's Mag. Dec. 47 Only one in a hundred people with Down's are mosaics.
2002 Times 16 July (Good Birth Guide Suppl.) 8/1 New techniques for processing samples of amniotic fluid are speeding up the time it takes to get a diagnosis of Down's.
2012 Independent 20 Nov. 17/1 For parents of children with the condition (and I am one), this news inevitably raises the question: what does it mean to have a ‘cure’ for Down's?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

downn.6

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: down adj.
Etymology: < down adj. (compare down adj. 8).
Particle Physics.
A quark distinguished by a characteristic flavour (flavour n. 5) and having a relatively small mass and an electric charge of -⅓; (also) the flavour possessed by a quark of this kind. Cf. down adj. 8.Symbol d (D n. Initialisms 3c).
ΚΠ
1978 Nature 2 Feb. 406/2 Particles like the proton are made up of three quarks—two ups and one down for the proton itself—whereas the other class of particles called mesons..contain a quark and an antiquark.
1981 Sci. Amer. Feb. 65/1 A total of five flavors have definitely been observed (they are called up, down, strange, charm and bottom) and the existence of a sixth flavor (top) is all but certain.
2000 Sci. Amer. Apr. 18/1 The lion's share of ordinary matter is composed of the lightweight up and down quarks: two ups and one down quark make a proton; one up and two downs, a neutron.
2017 Amer. Jrnl. Mod. Physics 6 148/1 A hadron particle such as a neutron can be viewed..as composed of two Downs and one Up.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

downadj.

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Forms: see down adv.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: down adv.
Etymology: < down adv.
Chiefly attributive.
1.
a. Of a person's look, gaze, or aspect: directed downwards, lowered. Frequently in down look.Sometimes with specific connotations of scorn, sheepishness, or dejection; cf. downlooked adj., downlooking adj., and to look down on at look v. Phrasal verbs 1.
ΚΠ
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Regardeure basse, doune looke.
1596 A. Copley Fig for Fortune 38 Ther is no Content in guilt of euill, A skowll down-looke, and swart synderisie Betokening him a member of the Deuill.
1604 T. Middleton Blacke Bk. sig. B4 A downe countenance he had.
1637 R. Monro Exped. Scots Regim. i. 63 Fearing..the down-looke or frowne of his Officers.
a1716 O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. xvii. 158 True Religion does not consist in a peculiar Garb..in a down Look.
1782 E. Pendleton Let. 29 July in Lett. & Papers (1967) II. 402 My Nephew..has lately lost a young negroe man..rather thin made, is a little bow legged, and has a down look when spoke to.
1821 J. Galt Ann. Parish xvii. 160 He had a down and thoughtful look..evidently a man foregone in the pleasures of this world.
a1861 W. Fergusson Songs & Poems (1864) 55 A blush upon your cheek, Marion, A down glance o' your e'e, A silence when ye should ha'e spak' Were mair than words to me.
1904 McClure's Mag. Nov. 81/2 He rose with a scornful down-glance at the man with the ball.
1995 S. Heaney tr. B. Merriman in Redress of Poetry (1996) 43 Then her downlook went, her colour rose, She dried her eyes and commenced as follows.
2012 A. Craven in T. Pugh & S. Aronstein Disney Middle Ages xiii. 229 An emotive point of view attributed to the hunchback on high in the cathedral, a down-gaze that imputes Quasimodo's isolated confinement, and, perversely, his power.
b. gen. Moving or directed downwards; descending.For earlier compounds where the prefix down- used in a similar sense, see down- prefix 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > [adjective]
descendantc1429
downwith1488
downward1552
vailinga1639
down1642
descending1700
dipping1817
downcoming1922
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adjective] > having downward direction
nethewardeOE
netherwarda1300
prone?a1425
downward1552
clined1594
down1642
groundward1878
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. Lv Binding all close with down-propensities.
1722 T. B. Compl. Musick-master (ed. 3) 42 If the first Note in the Barr has a Prick, whether Minim or Crotchet, it will be best to play it with a down Bow.
1892 S. A. K. Strahan Marriage & Dis. ii. 29 Whether he is on the way to a higher development, or on the down path to extinction.
1894 H. Caine Manxman 24 A down line for every stone weight up to eight stones.
1906 J. W. Thomas Ventilation, Heating & Lighting of Dwellings ii. 27 There are many chimney ventilators on the market, some having mica flaps..to shut against a down current.
1920 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 6 Jan. 135/1 A series of mixable combination plates stacked in the chamber and forming a tortuous up passage and a straight down passage.
1987 M. Dorris Yellow Raft in Blue Water (1988) i. 9 I take the down elevator.
2005 Ebony Sept. 43/1 Payday loans can result in a vicious cycle that has been described as the equivalent of trying to run up a down escalator.
c. Of a train or coach: travelling away from the capital or principal terminus; of or relating to such trains or coaches.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [adjective] > going in specific direction
down1797
up1841
downcoming1851
up and down1890
merry-go-round1963
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > public service vehicle > [adjective] > travelling in specific direction
down1797
up1797
cross-town1886
1797 J. Palmer Papers Reform Posts App. iv. 40 All the Letters from these Towns are sent by the up-Coach at night, where they are sorted and dispatched, according to their different directions, by the down-Coach the next morning.
1845 Trans. Soc. Arts 55 193 An engine..is already on the up-line ready to proceed with the up-train, and another..on the down-line ready to proceed with the down-train.
1878 F. S. Williams Midland Railway (ed. 4) 656 To go down to the roadside station..and see the down mail pass.
1881 Harvard Reg. Feb. 119/1 At that moment the down stage met ours, and as they passed they both stopped an instant.
1885 Law Times Rep. 52 622/2 To cross the line to the down platform.
1904 G. P. Neele Railway Reminisc. 219 Some channel bars of iron on a down goods train..had gradually shifted.
1935 Times 8 July 11/2 It will run non-stop to Truro (279 miles).., except Saturdays, when the down train will make St. Erth (299½ miles) its first station stop.
1997 Mod. Railways July 421/2 The present down passenger line will be upgraded for 60mph running.
d. That has been brought, thrown, or knocked to the ground. Cf. downed adj.2See also down timber n.
ΚΠ
1830 W. Carleton Traits & Stories Irish Peasantry I. 263 Murdher, murdher, is it striking a down man you're after?
1889 Amer. Angler 9 Feb. 94/1 The earth was covered with down logs.
1916 Recreation Dec. 266/2 Finding a down bird is made much simpler, especially in thick cover.
1972 Jrnl. Range Managem. 25 118/3 Down trees can serve in lieu of shrubs as cover.
2014 M. Daley Yuletide Rescue i. 17 He started his grid search, flying low enough to scan the terrain for a down plane or any signs of people.
e. Of a crossword clue or answer: that fills or is intended to fill the spaces down a vertical line of the puzzle. Cf. down adv. 1c, across adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > puzzle > [adjective] > relating to crossword clues
across1925
down1925
1925 W. McCarty Noah's Word Animals 8 No. 2 is a down word.
1963 D. St. P. Barnard Anat. Crossword ii. 37 Some enthusiasts even went to the extent of making a duplicate pattern and working the Across clues on one, and the Down clues on the other.
1981 S. A. Kurzban & M. Rosen Compl. Cruciverbalist iii. 37 Work only from the Down definitions.
2012 D. Sutherland Solving Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies p. xxviii Only down clues can use on top of, under, beneath and so on, because of how they're written into the crossword grid. Here's an example of a down clue: Highland gold is under the dish.
†2. Downright, absolute, complete. Cf. even down adj. 2, right-down adj. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute
shirea1225
purec1300
properc1380
plainc1395
cleana1400
fine?a1400
entirec1400
veryc1400
starka1425
utterc1430
utterlyc1440
merec1443
absolute1531
outright1532
cleara1535
bloodyc1540
unproachable1544
flat1553
downright1577
sheer1583
right-down?1586
single1590
peremptory1601
perfecta1616
downa1625
implicit1625
every way1628
blank1637
out-and-outa1642
errant1644
inaccessional1651
thorough-paced1651
even down1654
dead1660
double-dyed1667
through stitch1681
through-stitched1682
total1702
thoroughgoing1719
thorough-sped1730
regular1740
plumb1748
hollow1751
unextenuated1765
unmitigated1783
stick, stock, stone dead1796
positive1802
rank1809
heart-whole1823
skire1825
solid1830
fair1835
teetotal1840
bodacious1845
raw1856
literal1857
resounding1873
roaring1884
all out1893
fucking1893
pink1896
twenty-four carat1900
grand slam1915
stone1928
diabolical1933
fricking1937
righteous1940
fecking1952
raving1954
a1625 J. Fletcher Valentinian i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aaaaaaa/2 After my many offers..And her as many down-denyals.
3.
a. Of a person's mood, feelings, etc.: characterized by depression or despondency; dejected, dispirited; low. Cf. down adv. 17b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective]
ungladc888
wearyc888
drearyc1000
dreary-moodOE
heavyc1000
unmerryOE
droopy?c1225
mournc1275
sada1300
languishinga1325
amayedc1330
matec1330
unlightc1330
unblissful1340
lowa1382
mishappyc1390
dullc1393
elengely1393
droopinga1400
heavy-hearteda1400
joylessa1400
sytefula1400
mornifc1400
tristy?c1400
lightless?1406
heartlessa1413
tristc1420
amatec1425
languoring?c1425
mirthlessc1430
heavisome1435
darkc1440
gloomingc1440
comfortlessc1460
amateda1470
chermatc1475
tristfula1492
lustless?1507
dolorous1513
ruthful1513
downcast1521
deject1528
heartsicka1529
lumpisha1535
coolc1540
dowlyc1540
glum1547
discouraged1548
uncheerfulc1555
dumpish1560
out of heart1565
sadded1566
amoped1573
tristive1578
desolated1580
dejected1581
à la mort1586
delightless1589
afflicted1590
gladless1590
groanful1590
gloomya1593
muddy1592
sitheful1592
cloudy1594
leaden-hearted1596
disconsolated1598
clum1599
life-weary1599
spiritless1600
dusky1602
chop-fallen1604
flat1604
disanimated1605
jaw-fallen1605
moped1606
chap-fallen1608
decheerful1608
uncheerful1612
lacklustrea1616
pulled1616
dumpya1618
depressed1621
head-hung1632
grum1640
downa1644
dispirited1647
down-at-mouth1649
down in (rarely of) the mouth1649
unhearted1650
sunlessa1658
sadful1658
unlightened1659
chagrin1665
saddened1665
damp1667
moping1674
desponding1688
tristitious1694
unenjoying1697
unraised1697
unheartya1699
unked1698
despondent1699
dismal1705
unjoyful1709
unrejoiced1714
dreara1717
disheartened1720
mumpish1721
unrejoicing1726
downhearted1742
out of spirits1745
chagrineda1754
low-spirited1753
sombrea1767
black-blooded1771
glumpy1780
oorie1787
sombrous1789
morose1791
Novemberish1793
glumpish1800
mopeful1800
die-away1802
blue-devilish1804
blue-devilled1807
malagrugrous1818
down in the hip1826
yonderly1828
sunshineless1831
downfaced1832
broody1851
in a (or the) trough1856
blue-devilly1871
drooped1873
glummy1884
pippy1886
humpy1889
pipped1914
lousy1933
pissed1943
crappy1956
doomy1961
bummed1970
a1644 F. Quarles Solomons Recantation (1645) ii. 24 Goe winde the Plummets up Of thy down spirits.
1899 E. Gosse Life & Lett. J. Donne II. 289 He was equally prompt in recovery, and after one of these ‘down’ moods, he would radiate life and light about a dazzled and bewitched society.
1970 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 15 Oct. 29/2 It caught Sandusky in a down state of mind after losing to powerhouse Elyria.
2011 D. S. Bialer No Longer Secret 67 Are there things that make you feel better when you're upset or trigger a ‘down’ feeling when you're doing fine?
b. Chiefly U.S. colloquial. Causing or characterized by depression, despondency, or lack of vigour; depressing, dispiriting. Cf. down n.4 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > not vigorous or lively
slackc900
sapless1598
unquickened1610
invital1650
down1873
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective] > gloomy or depressing
darkOE
unmerryOE
deathlyc1225
dolefulc1275
elengec1275
dreicha1300
coolc1350
cloudyc1374
sada1375
colda1400
deadlya1400
joylessc1400
unjoyful?c1400
disconsolatea1413
mournfula1425
funeralc1425
uncheerfulc1449
dolent1489
dolesome1533
heavy-hearted1555
glum1558
ungladsome1558
black1562
pleasureless1567
dern1570
plaintive?1570
glummish1573
cheerless1575
comfortless1576
wintry1579
glummy1580
funebral1581
discouraging1584
dernful?1591
murk1596
recomfortless1596
sullen1597
amating1600
lugubrious1601
dusky1602
sable1603
funebrial1604
damping1607
mortifying1611
tearful?1611
uncouth1611
dulsome1613
luctual1613
dismal1617
winterous1617
unked1620
mopish1621
godforsaken?1623
uncheerly1627
funebrious1630
lugubrous1632
drearisome1633
unheartsome1637
feral1641
drear1645
darksome1649
sadding1649
saddening1650
disheartening1654
funebrous1654
luctiferous1656
mestifical1656
tristifical1656
sooty1657
dreary1667
tenebrose1677
clouded1682
tragicala1700
funereal1707
gloomy1710
sepulchrala1711
dumpishc1717
bleaka1719
depressive1727
lugubre1727
muzzy1728
dispiriting1733
uncheery1760
unconsolatory1760
unjolly1764
Decemberly1765
sombre1768
uncouthie1768
depressing1772
unmirthful1782
sombrous1789
disanimating1791
Decemberish1793
grey1794
uncheering1796
ungenial1796
uncomforting1798
disencouraginga1806
stern1812
chilling1815
uncheered1817
dejecting1818
mopey1821
desponding1828
wisht1829
leadening1835
unsportful1837
demoralizing1840
Novemberish1840
frigid1844
morne1844
tragic1848
wet-blanketty1848
morgue1850
ungladdeneda1851
adusk1856
smileless1858
soul-sick1858
Novemberya1864
saturnine1863
down1873
lacklustre1883
Heaven-abandoneda1907
downbeat1952
doomy1967
1873 Arthur's Illustr. Home Mag. Nov. 719/1 ‘Oh, you've got a down day,’ said he. ‘I must take you a drive to-night, if the weather should continue fine. Cheer up—good-morning.’
1953 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 15 Jan. 25/2 Last year ended on a down note for young Palmer..in his divorce from actress Joanna Ransom.
1967 Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Jrnl. 18 Dec. b3/6 A ‘down trip’ is any experience that is dull and uninspiring; it can be caused naturally or by drugs.
1972 New Yorker 5 Aug. 21 It's too down. I don't like down movies. I like up movies.
2009 R. Kirkpatrick 1969: Year Everything Changed 145 The movie ends on a down note, the church left with a mess, the residue of bacchanalia.
4. Designating an initial payment for something bought on credit or paid for in instalments. Chiefly in down payment. Cf. down adv. 7a.
ΚΠ
1854 Daily Indiana State Sentinel 25 Feb. The terms of sale are one-fifth of the purchase money down, and the remainder in six equal yearly payments, allowing a premium of five per cent on all money over the down payment, paid within six months from the date of purchase.
1877 Canada Law Jrnl. Jan. 21/2 The parties had entered into such suretyship the contract for purchase had been made in the wife's name, who paid the down instalment.
1891 U. Eberhart Hist. Eberharts li. 225 I had seventy dollars left... This I paid as the down money for an old balky mare, which I bought for $110, giving my note for $40.
1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 117 (advt.) You can easily manage the $6.25 for a down payment on The Hoover.
1951 Norwich (N.Y.) Sun 13 Dec. 6/3 (advt.) Priced very low. Down deposit $3,500, balance $39 per month.
1959 J. Braine Vodi x. 138 The money for the first inescapable hundred down-payments.
2013 T. Pynchon Bleeding Edge vii. 73 Justin and Vyrva had enough squirreled away for a down payment on a house.
5. Designating a period or occasion during which the price or value of something (esp. stocks, shares, etc.) falls or remains low.Cf. down market n.
ΚΠ
1886 Real Estate Rec. & Builders' Guide 30 Jan. 129/1 How do you account for the improvement in business this last year.., it being one of the ‘down’ years in the iron cycle?
1917 National Provisioner 2 June 31/2 This is a down week on all kinds of [live]stock, and it is possible that there will be some difficulty in stopping the declines.
1937 Business Week 4 Dec. 22/2 In almost every previous down period, lower steel prices have been the inevitable consequence of sharpened competition.
1992 N.Y. Times 2 Aug. (Late ed.) (Business section) 14 f/1 Bear markets: periods that had at least three consecutive down months plus cumulative losses of 10 percent or more.
2015 P. Sullivan Thin Green Line (2016) ii. 40 The number of calls to sell securities increased after down days in the stock market.
6. Designating a period or occasion when something (such as a factory, machine, computer system, etc.) is out of operation or unavailable for use, or when normal work, activity, or productivity ceases or is less intense.Recorded earliest in down-time (see downtime n.).
ΚΠ
1940 Electr. World 6 Apr. 97/1 (advt.) Fewer hours lost in ‘down-time’.
1950 World Oil Apr. 136/3 Oil lost through down days incurred through the use of makeshift equipment is considered to override the possible savings gained in equipment expenditures.
1993 J. Hadley Part-time Careers xi. 189 You can't panic if you have a down month. For every down month you're going to have two crazy months.
2007 R. Katz et al. in H. de Meer & N. Bhatti Quality of Service i. 3 One down hour of access to Amazon.com results in an estimated loss of revenue of $600,000.
2014 H. Thorpe Soldier Girls iv. ii. 297 Usually they ran a mission one day, had a down day the next. They spent the down days cleaning trucks.
7. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). Of a person: smart, well-informed, hip; following the latest trends and fashion. Also, of a thing: fashionable, stylish, cool. Cf. down adv. 29.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [adjective]
in (also into) request?1574
bonfacion1584
fashional?1607
of request1613
fashionablea1627
à la mode1642
all the mode1651
modish1661
in mode1664
timeish1676
of vogue1678
voguea1695
mody1701
alamodic1753
much the mode1767
tonish1778
go1784
stylish1800
bang-up1810
tippy1810
varmint1823
up to the knocker1844
gyvera1866
OK1869
fly1879
swagger1879
doggy1885
faddy1885
fantoosh1920
voguish1927
voguey1928
à la page1930
go1937
hard1938
hip1939
down1952
swinging1958
a-go-go1960
way-in1960
yé-yé1960
trendy1962
with-it1962
go-go1963
happening1965
mod1965
funky1967
together1968
fash1977
cred1987
the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [adjective] > well-informed
hip1904
down1952
hipsterish1959
1952 H. Ellson Golden Spike Gloss. Down cat, a good guy.
1957 H. Simmons Corner Boy ii. xxvi. 250 She had the downest jukebox in town.
1964 N.Y. Times 23 Aug. (Mag.) 64/3 Down—hip, just right and true, as in ‘That was a down movie.’
1968 N.Y. Mag. 22 July 4/3 In his early columns I got the impression that here was a down dude who really liked stone soul & rock.
1975 E. Torres Carlito's Way 19 He was a down cat and he was connected.
2012 Observer (Nexis) 9 Dec. (Mag.) 46 Andrew Renton is a down dude... He is even more hip than you might think because he doesn't try to be cool, he just is.
8. Particle Physics. Designating a quark distinguished by a characteristic flavour (flavour n. 5) and having a relatively small mass and an electric charge of -⅓. Cf. down n.6
ΘΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > quark > [adjective] > down
down1972
1972 M. Gell-Mann in Acta Physica Austriaca Suppl. 9 739 The φ is composed of strange and antistrange quarks whereas ρ and π have only ordinary up and down quarks.
1989 New Scientist 18 Feb. 33/1 Particles containing other types of quarks together with ‘up’ or ‘down’ quarks do exist, but only temporarily.
2012 S. Carroll Particle at End of Universe i. 11 We need only three elementary particles to make up every single piece of matter that we immediately perceive in the environment around us—electrons, up quarks, and down quarks.

Compounds

down button n. a button in a lift which, when pressed, causes the lift to descend to a lower floor; (also) a button outside a lift which summons it to go down.
ΚΠ
1895 Electric Power 8 538 Each up button is connected to contacts in all the [elevator] shafts placed below, and each down button to contacts above the landing.
1958 N.Y. Times 28 Feb. 25/1 Peter..entered the elevator but apparently neglected to press the down button.
2013 M. Piercy Braided Lives xix. 189 She strikes the down button with her fist... We ride down.
down card n. Cards (chiefly Poker) a playing card dealt face down; opposed to up-card n.
ΚΠ
1885 Mail & Express (N.Y.) 19 Jan. 1/5 Should any one of these pair the ‘down card’, it would constitute the strongest hand.
1937 Hammond (Indiana) Times 15 June 13/6 It was a modest game, they tell me, the champion risking just a dime on each down card.
1999 F. Barthelme & S. Barthelme Double Down v. 67 When she flips her down card there it is, the ace.
down dog n. Yoga a position in which the body assumes an inverted-V shape, with the hands and feet on the floor, and the buttocks pointing upwards; = downward dog n. at downward adv., adj., and prep. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1993 Esquire Mar. 153 This is called the down dog.
2002 Christian Sci. Monitor 24 Oct. 1/1 The delicate blonde rolls out a rubber mat..and slips into a ‘down dog’.
2013 Self Apr. 23 Start in Down Dog, with feet hip-width apart.
downforce n. a force that acts downwards, esp. on a moving vehicle; (Motor Racing) a force produced as air rushes over a car, which has the effect of increasing grip with the road surface, allowing the car to move through a corner at a high speed.
ΚΠ
1938 School Sci. & Math. 38 201 While there is an up force on the solid, we get an equal down force against the balance.
1943 Life 17 May 56 The only thing that keeps the airplane out of that dive is the down force on the tail fins.
1947 Pop. Sci. Monthly Oct. 96/2 When Macqueen and his engineers adjust the cars' rear wing..they unexpectedly increase the strain on the springs which..further increases the downforce.
2005 Flying Feb. 99/2 Since wings and horizontal stabilizers are symmetrical, the up force on one side balances the down force on the other.
2010 S. McCollum Dragsters 19 The dragster's wing creates downforce when air rushes over it.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

downv.1

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Forms: see down adv.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: down adv.
Etymology: < down adv.The verb appears to have developed from earlier uses of the adverb such as are illustrated at down adv. III., in which the main verb of a phrasal construction (as e.g. go down , put down , etc.) is implied. Compare similar development of e.g. off v., up v., etc. Possible evidence for earlier currency. In the following quot., downe probably represents a typographical error for a different verb (perhaps drive or draw ) rather than an earlier instance of this verb in sense 3:1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 23v The roote..helpe to downe furth the birth in tyme of labor. Possible currency of a verb in Old English. Currency of an equivalent verb in Old English is perhaps implied by the following isolated attestation of Old English dunondlice , apparently in sense ‘falling down, tottering, faltering’, which has been interpreted as a scribal error for duniendlice ( < the present participle of an otherwise unattested weak Class II verb *dūnian ( < down adv.) + -ly suffix1):OE Lambeth Psalter cviii.10 Nutantes transferantur filii eius : dunondlice uel tealtiende beon afyrsade bearn his.Specific senses. With sense 4a compare down with —— ! at down adv. 26a. In sense 4b apparently originally an extension of sense 4a (compare quots. 1780 and 1791 at sense 4a); in later use probably after to put down 3b at put v. Phrasal verbs 1.
†1. intransitive. to down with: to put or throw (something) down; to have done with. Obsolete.Cf. the earlier elliptical use of the adverb with main verb implied and with at down adv. 26b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > relinquish or give up [verb (transitive)] > renounce > a practice
to down with1581
the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [verb (transitive)] > do without or get rid of
to set awayc1430
to throw off1551
to dispense with1576
to down with1581
to fling off1587
to fob offa1616
shoot1877
1581 J. Maplet Diall Destiny f. 68 If this fearse and furious haruestman as it were, euery day labouring to downe with all, were not let and hyndered by other more friendly & gracious powers.
1599 Master Broughtons Lett. Answered ix. 34 I dismisse you..with aduise, to..downe with your traine you Peacocke.
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος Ep. Ded. sig. a8 Lets down with swearing, if ever wee mean to prosper at Sea.
1682 E. Hickeringill Black Non-Conformist ii. 6 The Pope..can deliver them, but not a Soul of them, except they, or some-body for them, down with their dust, and ready Darby.
1712 J. Warder True Amazons 57 They down with her House.
?1750 Another Fragm. 4 Whenever his Back was turn'd, they would make Faces at him..for which..whenever he catch'd them, he down'd with their Apple Carts, and made them smart for it.
1757 ‘Sir W. Freeman’ Lett. Several Occas. xxvi. 131 The prospect was hindered 'till lately by a row of trees, but I have downed with them all.
1884 St. James's Gaz. 22 Nov. 3/2 Another reason for downing with the House of Lords.
2.
a. transitive. To throw or knock (a person or thing) down; to cause to fall to the ground; to fell.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)]
besench971
avalec1314
sinka1325
lighta1400
to get downa1450
abasec1450
descenda1475
base1489
fall1595
slopea1616
dimit1628
demit1646
send1657
down1852
dip1879
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) i. sig. H5 The hidden beauties seem'd in waite to lye, to downe proud hearts that would not willing dye.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme cxlvii. 20 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 249 To down proud wicked to the dust.
1611 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 601 The lusty Courser.., Now lank and lean, with crest and courage downd, With rugged tongue out of his chained mouth.
1815 Morning Chron. 18 Nov. Dannelly..beat Cooper against the ropes, and downed him.
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour vi. xxvii. 165 His horse..had downed him three times.
1903 J. H. Carter Mississippi Argonauts xxviii. 255 His great black whip, a blow from which would have downed an ox, was brought vigorously into play.
1979 Infantry (U.S.) Nov. 2/2 By cratering roadways and downing trees, he can force the tank to slow to a crawl.
2002 B. Gorman & P. Walsh King of Gypsies v. 75 I brushed his punches aside, cracked him on the jaw and downed him again.
b. transitive. spec. To cause (something airborne) to fall to the ground; to bring down (a bird, aircraft, etc.) with a shot or missile.
ΚΠ
1853 H. W. Herbert Amer. Game 102 When the bird rises, cock your gun, and down him!
1895 Outing 26 31/1 Six teal flew across the water, and I downed the tailender.
1918 L. La Tourette Driggs Heroes of Aviation (1919) xiv. 282 Meissner had downed his fourth German aeroplane and received in compensation the Croix de Guerre from the French.
1974 Middle East Jrnl. 28 285/1 Syria claimed one of its missiles downed the plane.
1986 Shooting Life Autumn 5/3 Walley is equally adept at downing woodpigeon and clay targets.
2015 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 July a7/1 The primary theory is that the aircraft was downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile shot from rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine.
3. transitive. To lower (something); to put down.See also to down tools at Phrases 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > lay or put down
to lay downc1275
to set netherc1275
to put downa1382
submit1543
down1595
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > lower or let down
abeyOE
fellOE
to let down1154
lowc1330
vailc1330
revalec1475
to let fallc1500
bate1530
stoop1530
down1595
fall1595
embase1605
dismount1609
lower1626
sink1632
prostratea1718
1595 A. Copley Wits Fittes & Fancies i. 14 He doft his hat, and downd his knee.
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 79 Another, seeing his Twin-Brother drowning, Out of his Coach, his hand (to help him) downing.
1646 in G. Tooke Legend of Brita-mart (new ed.) (leaf between pp. 32 & 33) That hee which downes his Cocke twice, without giving fire, fall backe into the reere, losing his shoot.
1662 A. Brome Rump (new ed.) i. 247 But though for Superstition, The Crosses have been down'd, Who'ld think these works would Popish turn, That ever have been round?
1757 Trial Honourable Admiral Byng 150 I hauled out to windward of the Line, but immediately down'd Foresail again, and bore up to the Kingston.
1835 Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg , Pa.) 30 Mar. The Captain downed the certificate, and says he, ‘there's black and white against ye, you bloody old sculpen.’
1863 Frank Leslie's Ten Cent Monthly Sept. 115/1 ‘Down with that window at the top—three inches,’ Maggie sprang on a chair and downed it.
1942 Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News 29 Nov. (Society section) 7/6 She [sc. a horse] downed her head and went to pitching and bawling.
2000 K. Maier This House has Fallen (2002) vi. 165 As they came together, they downed their weapons and began embracing each other.
2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 10 Oct. 5/1 He downed anchor at Newport, Rhode Island.
4.
a. transitive. figurative. To defeat, overthrow; to get the better of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)]
overcomeeOE
forecomec1000
overwieldlOE
masterc1225
overmaistrie1340
overmatcha1375
overpassa1382
surmount1390
to have the fairer (of)c1400
maistriec1400
overmasterc1425
winc1440
overc1485
bestride1526
rixlec1540
overreach1555
control1567
overmate1567
govern1593
to give (a person) the lurch1598
get1600
to gain cope of1614
top1633
to fetch overa1640
down1641
to have the whip hand (of)1680
carberry1692
to cut down1713
to be more than a match for1762
outflank1773
outmaster1799
outgeneral1831
weather1834
best1839
fore-reach1845
to beat a person at his (also her, etc.) own game1849
scoop1850
euchrec1866
bemaster1871
negotiate1888
to do down1900
to get (someone) wetc1926
lick1946
1641 J. Bond Doore of Hope 49 To have such things abolished and downed by Authority from Parliament.
1780 S. Johnson Let. 11 Apr. (1992) III. 236 Did You quite down her?
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1778 II. 254 [Johnson:] He talked of one whom he did not know; but I downed him with the King of Prussia.
1886 World (N.Y.) 25 Apr. 11 One had related how he had ‘downed an old guy wot was a merchant in der town’ by steering him into a ‘bunco game’.
1898 E. S. Brooks True Story Benjamin Franklin 150 How easily he could have ‘downed’ the insolent Wedderburn if he had wished to reply.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 26 July 1/2 He sees a chance of ‘downing’ his political opponents.
1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 31/3 Luke Walker pitched a seven-hitter for his fifth successive victory as the Pirates downed Montreal Expos 8–0 last night.
1971 R. Price Permanent Errors ii. 100 I down my own new need to stop him. I grant him the rest of his respite, reward.
2010 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 23 Sept. (Scoreboard section) 1/6 The Chinook High School Coyotes girls team downed Senator Gershaw 2-1.
b. transitive. colloquial. To denigrate or disparage (a person); = to put down 3b at put v. Phrasal verbs 1. Cf. Phrases 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > disparagement or depreciation > disparage or depreciate [verb (transitive)]
littleeOE
low1340
dispraisec1386
minish1402
deroge1427
detractc1449
descryc1450
detrayc1475
dismerit1484
decline1509
vilipend1509
disprize?1518
disable1528
derogatea1530
elevate1541
disparagea1556
detrect1563
debase1565
demerit1576
vilify1586
disgrace1589
detracta1592
besparage1592
enervate1593
obtrect1595
extenuate1601
disvalue1605
disparagon1610
undervalue1611
avile1615
debaucha1616
to cry down1616
debate1622
decry1641
atomize1645
underrate1646
naucify1653
dedignify1654
stuprate1655
de-ample1657
dismagn1657
slur1660
voguec1661
depreciate1666
to run down1671
baffle1674
lacken1674
sneer1706
diminish1712
substract1728
down1780
belittle1789
carbonify1792
to speak scorn of1861
to give one a back-cap1903
minoritize1947
mauvais langue1952
rubbish1953
down-talk1959
marginalize1970
marginate1970
trash1975
neg1987
1780 H. L. Thrale Diary 21 Jan. in Thraliana (1942) I. 422 If the Man has a particular friend—I laugh at him; if I dislike a Book & down it as we say—Solander was the Writer or Translator or something.
a1784 S. Johnson in H. L. Piozzi Anecd. Johnson (1786) 37 I was inclined to down them sure enough; but then a fellow deserves to be of Oxford that talks so.
1915 M. Moore Let. 19 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1997) 109 We had a discussion.., both Mr. Stieglitz and Mr. Kerfoot downing me saying that a haunting quality was not the earmark of good art—but of bad art.
1970 Rolling Stone 28 May 34/2 My friends downed me for listening to country music.
1991 Pro Football Weekly Preview Oct. 13/3 I don't down a guy for what he is. Tim does what works for Tim.
2017 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 5 Oct. 23 The British..seem like sore losers on the world stage, always downing someone else.
5.
a. intransitive. To come or go down; to descend.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > move downwards [verb (intransitive)]
styc825
astyc975
alightOE
to fall adownOE
hieldc1275
downcomea1300
sink?a1300
avalec1374
to go downa1375
to come downc1380
dipc1390
descenda1393
clinea1400
declinea1400
downc1400
inclinec1400
vailc1400
fallc1440
devall1477
condescendc1485
to get down1567
lower1575
dismount1579
to fall down1632
down?1701
demount1837
?1701 Pilgrimage Grand Jubilee Rome 110 He down'd on his Marrow-Bones upon the Treshold, and Sang Te Deum.
1768 Trial F. Calvert 192 Miss Woodcock..downed on her knees upon the carpet, sewing these table-cloths together.
1825 Countess Granville Lett. (1894) I. 360 What an odd thing life is, and how it ups and downs, and ebbs and flows.
1897 C. M. Stuart Sandy Scott's Bible Class 33 He downs on his knees and gies thanks to the God o' Heaven.
1928 T. Hardy Winter Words 106 He downed to breakfast, and bespoke his guests:—‘I find I have to go An unexpected journey.’
2010 R. M. Pyle Mariposa Road 36 When the sun downed into them [sc. the snowy San Bernardinos] and their clouds, it left gold and purple stripes across the rocks.
†b. intransitive. To die down. Cf. down adv. 25a. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease activity [verb (intransitive)] > specifically of things, actions, or processes > gradually
to die away1680
sink1718
to die off1722
to burn out, forth1832
to die down1836
peter1846
fizz1847
to fizzle out1847
to die out1853
poof1915
down1924
to wind down1969
1924 W. MacDougall Ethics & Mod. World Probl. App. 187 The bugaboo of a German-Russian-Turkish alliance does not seem to down.
6. colloquial.
a. transitive. To consume (food). Also: to swallow (something) down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > [verb (transitive)]
brookc950
abiteOE
haveOE
afangOE
takec1175
notea1200
usec1300
spendc1380
consumec1400
partake1602
pree1680
discuss1751
tuck1784
to put down1795
to be (also go) at the ——1796
go1830
kill1833
to put away1839
down1852
to put over1880
to wrap (oneself) (a)round1880
shift1896
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > [verb (transitive)] > swallow
swallowc1000
overswallowa1400
engluta1492
slup1598
deglute1599
to take down1603
glut-glut1650
quilta1658
to get down1662
regurgitate1670
reswallow1792
to take on board1813
glutch1825
down1852
deglutate1867
1852 E. P. Bond Atonement ii. ix. 297 Timid minds..have taken the bait, and downed it hook and all.
1860 O. W. Holmes Professor at Breakfast-table ii. 52 Give a fellah a fo'-penny bun in the mornin', an' he downs the whole of it.
1964 Irish Times 28 Sept. 11/3 He plans on downing three meals per day.
2003 A. Notaro Back after Break ii. 21 She downed two Solpadeine to try and cure a particularly nasty headache.
2009 J. Kellerman True Detectives xlii. 417 Raymond Wohr was stashed in a solitary cell having downed a repast of donuts and Hershey bars and Mountain Dew.
b. transitive. To consume (a drink, esp. an alcoholic drink) rapidly or in one go; to drink down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)]
drinkc1000
bite?c1225
touchc1384
supc1400
neck?1518
exhaust1555
lug1577
pipe?1578
to suck at1584
slup1598
reswill1614
imbibe1621
tug1698
absorb1821
tipple1824
inhaust1848
down1869
1869 Weekly Arizona Miner 11 Dec. Hans ‘downed’ the whole business [sc. a mug of beer], at one fell swoop, and sat quietly wiping his lips.
1922 C. E. Mulford Tex x. 145 Silently he poured out a drink and downed it mechanically.
1949 D. M. Davin Roads from Home iii. 44 John downed the two [drinks] that were waiting for him.
1967 W. Soyinka Kongi's Harvest 22 A waiter refills his glass; he downs it.
2004 Independent 30 Dec. (Review section) 15/1 This is a cocktail that is designed to be downed in one.
2015 A. Titley tr. M. Ó Cadhain Dirty Dust v. 133 We downed a few pints.
7. transitive. American Football and Canadian Football. To render (the ball) dead, typically by touching the ground with any part of the body excluding the hands or feet while in possession of the ball (cf. down n.4 5). Also: to bring to the ground or tackle (the player in possession of the ball).
ΚΠ
1885 Boston Daily Globe 8 Nov. 5/4 The ball was downed at once in the centre by Williams.
1889 Lehigh Burr 16 Oct. 19/2 Ames catches the ball and is immediately downed.
1903 Mich. Alumnus Dec. 140/2 The score was, however, not allowed, since Wolfe had evidently downed the ball.
1945 Winnipeg Free Press 28 Sept. 12/5 Ken Badger fired a forward to Burke, downing the ball on the three-yard line.
1957 Princeton Alumni Weekly 29 Nov. 14/2 Sapoch downed the ball carrier on the 20 after a three-yard kickoff return.
2010 R. Porter N. Carolina Tar Heels' Greatest Football Games 164 Vidnovic downed the ball on the next three plays, and the game ended.
8. transitive. Golf. To sink (a putt).
ΚΠ
1904 Sunday Post (Boston) 10 July 12/5 His only chance was to down the putt.
1929 San Antonio (Texas) Light 28 Apr. (Sporting section) 1/5 Just previously, on the sixteenth hole, he downed a 25-yard putt.
1965 Illustr. London News 16 Oct. 32/2 Palmer downed his putt for an eagle.
2007 Guardian (Nexis) 27 Aug. 17 To his credit he hit a glorious drive and second to nine feet, then downed the putt for a 67.

Phrases

P1. colloquial. to down on (also upon).
†a. To come down on (a person) violently or forcefully; to fall upon; to assail. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > attack with hostile words or measures
fangc1320
hurtlec1374
impugnc1384
weighc1386
to fall upon ——a1398
to start on ——a1398
oppugn?1435
to lay to, untoa1500
onseta1522
wipe1523
to set against ——1542
to fall aboard——1593
aggress1596
to fall foul1602
attack1613
appugn1615
to set upon ——1639
to fall on ——1641
to lay home, hard, hardly to1650
tack1720
bombard1766
savage1796
to pitch into ——1823
to begin upon a personc1825
bulldog1842
to down on (also upon)a1848
to set at ——1849
to start on ——a1851
to start in on1859
set on at or to1862
to let into1872
to go for ——1890
swash1890
slog1891
to get at ——1893
tee1955
a1848 G. F. Ruxton Life in Far West (1849) iv. 108 He has been down'd upon a sight too often to be skeared by what can come out from them waters.
1849 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour xx, in New Monthly Mag. Aug. 500 No woman with money..ever wanted an offer with Soapey in the way, for he would down upon her at the second or third interview; and always pressed for an immediate fulfilment.
1884 Punch 6 Dec. 276/2 Prove that you value me by downing remorselessly on my enemies.
b. To denigrate or disparage (a person or thing); = to put down 3b at put v. Phrasal verbs 1. Cf. sense 4b.
ΚΠ
1877 Punch 21 Apr. 180/2 They 're always downing on us thus, a hinting round and sneering; Better abuse than this 'ere sly and niminy-piminy jeering.
1890 Sporting Times 1 Feb. 2/1 I had half packed up a nice, dirty, comfortable, worn-out old brown suit, when that was downed on by the Oracle, who opined that, perhaps, I didn't want to look like a croupier who'd been discharged for dressing shabby.
1921 ‘G. A. Birmingham’ Lost Lawyer viii. 88 ‘It's all very well downing on me as you do——’
2016 @adioskristi 28 Feb. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Some of yall are so rude to upcoming artists. Give them a chance & stop downing on them.
P2.
a. to down tools: to cease working, spec. to go on strike.rare in U.S. use.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > participate in labour relations [verb (intransitive)] > strike
strike1769
to turn out1795
to strike work, tools1803
stick1823
to come out1841
to go out1850
to down tools1855
to hit the bricks1931
1855 Liverpool Mercury 7 Nov. 3/3 Many shipowners know how the associated carpenters will ‘down tools’ and leave a ship because the captain insists upon employing a man not of the club to do some especial jobs.
1890 Morning Bull. (Rockhampton, Queensland) 24 Sept. They must down tools and do no more work until further notice.
1917 Hawke's Bay (N.Z.) Trib. 14 Aug. 3/4 The retort hands at the gasworks, who downed tools on July 8th., resumed work yesterday.
1958 Oxf. Mail 15 Jan. 1/2 He was ‘sincerely sorry’ to leave his job as Minister of Agriculture. ‘I hate downing-tools in the middle of a job.’
1958 Punch 15 Jan. 109/1 More trouble seems to be brewing for the B.B.C., over complaints from manufacturers that after each half-hourly news bulletin workers down tools for five minutes to discuss it.
2006 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 13 Mar. 5/1 The 72 tradesmen and labourers downed tools early last year alleging their living quarters reeked of sewage.
b.
down-tools adj. of or relating to a strike; designating strike action.
ΚΠ
1910 Times 20 Sept. 10/3 These sectional meetings were held this morning, and in each case they reversed the ‘down tools’ resolution adopted at Sunday's mass meeting.
1935 H. Heslop Last Cage Down i. v. 51 ‘We'd rather you settled amicably, if that's what you mean,’ said Railton. ‘A down-tools policy won't win much bread and butter.’
1969 Listener 1 May 614/1 The employer should not be able to impose sudden arbitrary action on the workers, the only remedy for which may be a down-tools strike.
1999 D. Howell Respectable Radicals (2016) 396 The subsequent development of formal bargaining structures was a response to this ‘Down Tools’ strategy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

downv.2

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: down n.2
Etymology: < down n.2 Compare earlier downed adj.1
Chiefly poetic. Now rare.
1. transitive. To line (esp. a nest) with down or other soft material. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > with cloth or textile > specific
mat1549
down1602
blanket1608
rug1818
quilt1840
towel1865
felt1883
tarpaulin1891
velvet1959
tarp1979
1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida iii. sig. E3 O calme husht rich content..How soft thou down'st the couch where thou dost rest.
1745 E. Young Complaint: Night the Eighth 12 Their Nest so deeply down'd, and built so high?
1827 W. Howitt & M. Howitt Desolation of Eyam 146 He smoothed his bed, and downed his pillow, With the cotton-rush and the silken willow.
1891 Science 17 July 39/1 One nest, with a clutch of ten, was downed almost as thickly as an eider duck's.
1935 Meddelelser om Grønland 104 No. 18. 8 Eiders are usually not in the habit of downing their nests, before the first eggs have been laid.
2. transitive. Of soft, fine hair: to make (a part of the body) downy.
ΚΠ
1616 T. Gainsford Hist. Trebizond ii. 83 Egerius countenance (not so much as down'd with the difference of Sexes) kept an extraordinary grauity.
1639 G. Rivers Heroinæ 152 Her chin was down'd with a China beard of twenty haires; her brest lanke as a quicksand, wasted as an hour-glasse at the eleventh use.
1915 T. S. Eliot Love Song J. Alfred Prufrock in Poetry June 132 Arms that are braceleted and white and bare (But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!).
1979 P. Hooper Song in Forest (1980) v. 48 He slept on..the mud-splashed legs lightly downed with hair those of a boy on the threshold of manhood.
2008 D. A. Fennelly Unmentionables 16 Some year if they catch me admiring the hair downing their chests..they won't grin grins that make me, busted, grin back.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

downadv.

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Forms: Old English–Middle English dun, Old English–1500s dune, early Middle English dæon (in copy of Old English charter), Middle English don, Middle English donn, Middle English douun, Middle English dovn, Middle English dowen, Middle English downne, Middle English dowun, Middle English dowyn, Middle English dunne, Middle English–1500s done, Middle English–1500s doun, Middle English–1500s doune, Middle English–1500s dovne, Middle English–1600s downe, Middle English– down, late Middle English dooun, late Middle English doung (perhaps transmission error), late Middle English þoune (perhaps transmission error), 1500s doine, 1600s douen, 1600s dwone, 1900s– dine (Irish English (northern)); English regional 1800s daan (Lancashire), 1800s dahn (Yorkshire), 1800s dain (Cheshire), 1800s deawn (Lancashire), 1800s doon (northern), 1800s doun (northern), 1900s– deyan (Yorkshire); Scottish pre-1700 doin, pre-1700 doine, pre-1700 don, pre-1700 done, pre-1700 douin, pre-1700 doune, pre-1700 dounne, pre-1700 dovn, pre-1700 dovne, pre-1700 dovnne, pre-1700 downe, pre-1700 dune, pre-1700 dwin, pre-1700 1700s– doun, pre-1700 1700s– down, 1700s–1800s duin, 1700s– doon; Caribbean 1900s– dung.
Etymology: Aphetic < adown adv. (compare β. forms at adown adv. and prep. and see discussion of form history at that entry), and hence ultimately from a phrase meaning ‘from the hill’ (see down n.1). Compare down- prefix.Aphetic forms are attested earliest in Old English in prefixed verbs (see down- prefix).
Down is used with many verbs, as bring, come, get, go, put, etc.: see these verbs. In most of these the basic uses of down correspond to those given below, while (as with other phrasal verbs) the further developments take a more idiomatic turn.
I. Of motion, direction, or position in space. Cf. up adv.1 I., up adv.2 I.
1.
a. In a descending direction; to or in a lower place or position; towards the ground. Contrasted with up (see up adv.1, up adv.2).In quot. OE1 in charter bounds with reference to the course of the boundary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > [adverb]
adowneOE
downOE
adownwardOE
downwardc1175
pronewise1585
descendingly1614
downwardly1662
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adverb] > in downward direction
adowneOE
netherwardsOE
shireOE
netherOE
netherOE
netherwardOE
downOE
adownwardOE
downwardslOE
downwardc1225
downhilla1398
alowc1450
downwith1488
downside1664
dahn1849
OE Charter: Bp. Oswald to Wulfgar (Sawyer 1327) in D. Hooke Worcs. Anglo-Saxon Charter-bounds (1990) 284 Of þæm hylle dun in þæt dæll.
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iii. xxiv. 227 Þa stod he..on treowenre hlæddre under þam leohtfate & ontynde & gebette þæt leoht, þa stod ðær dune [OE Otho ofdune; L. deorsum] on þære flore sancte Peter.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 Hi..clumben upp to þe stepel, brohton dune þet hæcce þe þær wæs behid.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 11357 Ȝiff þatt tu godess sune arrt..Cumm skaþelæs till eorþe. Do þe nu þurrh þe sellfenn dun.
a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 281 Te swat as blodes dropes eorn dune to þe eorðe.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3572 Quat Iosue to moysi, ‘Ic wene he figten dun her-bi!’
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 675 Betere him adde ibe Abbe bileued þer doune [c1425 Harl. Walkynge vpon þe grounde] þan ilerned vor to fle.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 246 Þe lheddre..huerby þe angles..cliue op: and doun.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 12962 Hu bot lepe dun [Gött. done, Trin. Cambr. doun] to the grund.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1220 Doun cam the reyn.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 870 The tearys began to renne downe by hys vysayge.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) v. 132 Whan they were donn from ther horses.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 182v He aspiet hir..Doune in a dungion.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. xxvjv He a lighted downe of his horse.
1576 C. Hollyband Frenche Littelton sig. Bviijv Come hether companion, vntrusse you: vntie you: put your hosen downe.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A7v A litle lowly Hermitage..Downe in a dale, hard by a forests side.
1636 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae (new ed.) sig. D5 If we goe downe.
1676 T. Shadwell Virtuoso iv. 74 I'll slide down from the window into the garden.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 28/1 Such Trees as grow..down in a Valley.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 15. ⁋9 I was set down at my aunt's.
1808 W. Scott Marmion ii. xiv. 93 Where his cathedral..Looks down upon the Wear.
1868 ‘H. Lee’ Basil Godfrey's Caprice xlvii. 255 The blinds were down.
1889 A. R. Wallace Darwinism 343 Debris brought down by rivers to the ocean.
1934 L. R. Farnell Oxonian looks Back xviii. 235 In the hollow below we saw a leaping mountain-torrent that runs down and helps to form the Alpheus.
1958 Nursing (St. John Ambulance Assoc.) ii. 18 Sun-blinds should be pulled down or window curtains drawn in hot weather.
1984 I. Banks Wasp Factory 30 I stopped about two metres down from the summit.
1986 D. Potter Singing Detective v. 184 Deep down in the gloom of an Underground station, the platform is occupied only by a pacing man talking to himself, a young woman and a boy.
2016 J. Chang Wangs vs. World xxxvi. 242 Him, standing on the balcony..leaning down so that Dorrie could whisper into his ear.
b. Used to define and include an area below a certain point or part (specified by from), as from the neck down. Frequently followed by to. Cf. downwards adv. 1c.
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1372 in E. Wilson Descriptive Index Lyrics John of Grimestone's Preaching Bk. (1973) 47 Wyde weren his wondis, al blod-wete, From þe heued doun to his fete.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 5726 (MED) And from þe hed doun vn-to þe foot, With sondry gommys & oynementis soot Sche is enoynt, swetter for to smelle.
?a1450 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (BL Add. 12056) (1894) 148 (MED) Gula..strecchiþ from þe chyn doun to þe furcle of þe brest.
a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 85 Take a lynnen cloth and trusse it wel fro the kne doun to the ancle.
1671 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 6 2096 From the shoulders down to the bottom of the Loins they were not distinct, but cemented and concorporated.
1752 tr. L. Heister Compend. Anat. iii. 41 The spina dorsi..is the boney column reaching from the head down to the anus.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Foot Refts and fissures, which cleave the hoof quite through, sometimes from the coronet down to the bottom.
1849 W. S. Mayo Kaloolah xxxviii. 352 It was open at the breast, and from the elbow down to the wrist, and across these openings were laced cords of yellow silk.
1878 Louisville Med. News 1 Jan. 3/1 From the hips down most of the surface was occupied by purple stains.
1919 Outing Mar. 295/1 The auto owner was his own mechanic and at the moment of my arrival was on public exhibition only from the waist down. I wondered what the upper half of the man would look like.
1947 N. M. Comber et al. Introd. Soil Chem. i. 4 If a cutting is made to expose a face or ‘profile’ from the surface down to the rock, there is much variation.
2008 Independent 1 Aug. 25/2 A 25-year-old tombstoner was left paralysed from the neck down after jumping from a cliff.
c. (So as to fill spaces) down a vertical line of a crossword puzzle. Usually following the number of the word or clue. Cf. across adv. 2c.
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society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > puzzle > [adverb] > of a crossword clue or answer
across1874
down1924
1924 C. Layng Cross-word Puzzles 6 Aha! we are off. No. 2, down, is a preposition.
1944 T. A. Bott How to make Crossword Puzzles i. 5 Avoid two-letter spaces, either Across or Down.
1960 G. W. Target Teachers 47 ‘Good morning, Purnell,’ said Woodgate from about seven across and nine down in his crossword, ‘though it's really rather cold, isn't it?’
1971 R. Rendell One Across v. 42 The well-meaning idiot who..demands..to be told how many letters in fifteen down.
1998 N.Y. Times 23 Aug. i. 18/5 As Mr. Clinton was flying to Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday doing the crossword puzzle.., he was stopped cold by clue 46 down.
2.
a. Into or in a fallen, sitting, or overthrown position; so as to be brought to the ground.See also to go down 8a at go v. Phrasal verbs 1, to knock down 1 at knock v. Phrasal verbs, to lie down 1 at lie v.1 Phrasal verbs, to pull down 2 at pull v. Phrasal verbs, to sit down 1 at sit v. Phrasal verbs 1, etc.
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the world > space > relative position > low position > [adverb]
netherOE
downlOE
downwardc1225
lowlyc1330
downwards?a1425
low-downc1425
abasea1450
lowera1475
baselya1500
humbly1746
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Þa aseh dune se biscop of Lincolne & seide to þam kyng: ‘Laferd kyng, ic swelte.’
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4798 & tær fell dun þatt hus þurrh wind & oferrfell hemm alle.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3421 Seoððen he dun læi.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 925 Sit now doun and et ful yerne.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1275 Þemperours men manly made þe chace, & slowen doun bi eche side wham þei of-take miȝt.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 69 Nouȝt honge þere heedis doun.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 32 Þare was sum tyme a chapell, bot now it es all doune.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 4725 Þai knelyd doune before þe saynt.
a1500 (c1465) in J. Gairdner Three 15th-cent. Chrons. (1880) 62 (MED) This yere fell downe the Towre of London Brygge.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cccxxiiiv The Spaniardes with theyr ordenaunce beate downe a timber walle.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iii. i. 23 If you'l sit downe Ile beare your Logges the while. View more context for this quotation
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 1 I laid me down in that place to sleep. View more context for this quotation
1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 62 We..batter'd it down in a very little time.
1752 Game at Cricket in New Universal Mag. Nov. 581/2 A stump hit by the ball, though the bail was down, it’s out.
1799 H. More Strictures Mod. Syst. Female Educ. I. xi. 251 Christianity not only rejects all such partnerships with other religions, but it pulls down their images.
1894 S. Baring-Gould Deserts S. France II. 228 He cut them down almost to a man.
1907 Eng. Illustr. Mag. Apr. 39/1 He was down on the ground, and a boy of the Walshes lickin' him at no rate.
1931 E. Bliss Saraband iii. 146 She sat down at a typewriter and put her case on the floor.
1994 I. Welsh Acid House 45 He just grabbed me, threw me down on the couch.
2003 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 13 Apr. 18/4 Rampaging elephants knocked down the mud walls of her house.
b. As the second element in phrasal verbs referring to hunting, tracking, or pursuing: so as to catch or bring the quarry to the ground; to a successful conclusion.See also to hunt down at hunt v. Phrases 1, to pull down 3 at pull v. Phrasal verbs, to ride down 1 at ride v. Phrasal verbs 1, to run down 2a at run v. Phrasal verbs 1, and track v.1 1a.
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c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 229 (MED) Þai lete hym [sc. a dog] se ane olyfante, and he chasid so þat he was werie; and at þe laste he pullid hym down and killid hym.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xvii. f. 72v Your white Greihounde, that pulled down the Stagge last day.
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 137 Great care taken..who should run down one another by the board first.
1660 J. Sadler Olbia 205 I will Ride them down..as Lambs for slaughter.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 115. ¶6 Foxes of the Knight's own hunting down.
1820 P. B. Shelley Œdipus Tyrannus ii. 44 Hoa! hoa! tallyho! tallyho! ho! ho! Come, let us hunt these ugly badgers down.
1883 M. Williams Relig. Thought & Life in India ix. 245 Capable of..riding down the most active demon-antagonist.
1888 Times 16 Oct. 10/5 I was tracked down in rather less time than it had taken me to cover the ground.
1938 Amer. Home Jan. 57/2 The harder they are to find, the more fun you will have as you sagely track down the miniature that will definitely fit in with your idea.
1986 T. Clancy Red Storm Rising (1988) x. 119 Nato intel services are already going ape trying to run him down.
2012 New Yorker 3 Sept. 23/2 A special ‘elimination’ unit, dedicated to hunting down suspected terrorists in Gaza.
c. Reduced to weakness or inactivity as a result of sickness; ill. Frequently with with, specifying the illness.See also to come down 12 at come v. Phrasal verbs 1, to go down 3b at go v. Phrasal verbs 1, to strike down at strike v. 45b.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > [adverb]
sickly1572
down1625
unhealthily1644
sadly1711
sicklily1727
wretchedly1728
morbidly1804
sickishly1847
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes IV. ix. v. 1734 The Vnity was sore distressed when she came vp with vs, for of seuenty land men, she had not ten sound, and all her Sea men were downe, but onely the Master and his Boy, with one poore sailer.
1695 J. Peachi Some Observ. Cassiny 4 I have had many in one Family down at one time of this loathsome Distemper.
1710 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 24 Dec. (1948) I. 139 Write to MD when you're down.
1712 W. Rogers Cruising Voy. 206 We have now about 50 men down.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxvii. 351 Five Children, who had been all down in Agues and Fevers.
1847 J. J. Oswandel Jrnl. 23 June in Notes Mexican War (1885) 195 There are no less than five hundred now in the hospital down with the same complaint.
1864 ‘Personne’ Marginalia 90 The typhoid fever has at last become so bad that it has grown to an epidemic,..and in some cases the whole family is down, and dependent upon their neighbors for help.
1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold ii. i. 34 When I was down in the fever, she was down with the hunger.
1940 N.Y. Times 11 Dec. 29/3 Billy Jr., who wasn't getting all the sunshine and nourishment he needed, went down with tuberculosis.
1986 R. D. Richardson Henry Thoreau 98 Thoreau was down with a bad case of bronchitis.
2001 J. Le Fanu They don't know what's Wrong ix. 146 It really felt as though I was going down with flu.
d. Of a person or animal: incapacitated and on the ground, esp. as a result of being thrown, struck, shot, or the like.
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1743 Broughton's Rules in P. Egan Boxiana (1812–13) I. 52 No person is to hit his adversary when he is down.
1851 C. Rowcroft Emigrant in Search Colony xxxii. 288 The tiger was down, but..with the tenacity of life observable in those creatures, might get up again and trouble us.
1934 Esquire June 19/3 You don't hear the gun go off but you hear a crack like the sound of a policeman's club on a rioter's head and the lion is down.
1987 J. Grady Just Shot Away vii. 31 Officer down! Repeat, officer down! Ambulance! Signal 13!
2012 G. Culverhouse Throwaway Players i. 2 Tackles become stronger, hits become harder. Suddenly there is quiet in the stands. A player is down.
3.
a. Without connotations of descent through space. To or at a place or locality regarded as lower in position; in a southerly direction or position; to or at a distance from the capital or other centre.Recorded earliest in the phrase up and down (see up and down adv. 2, 3a).
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the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > to and fro [phrase]
hither and thitherc725
downa1200
to and fro1340
to and again1612
back and forward1613
sourse deorse1616
backward and forwarda1711
a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 244 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 227 [H]ie..walkeð weri up and dun se water doð mid winde.
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) l. 268 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 307 He [sc. the devil] fierde ase doth a port-doggue I-norischet in port-toun: for he geth ofte in prece of Men a-mong heom op and doun.
c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 2859 Alle maner soun And gle Of minestrals vp and doun Bifor þe folk so fre.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 289 (MED) Abraham lernede in Caldea, and went doun in to Egipte, and was þe firste þat tauȝte þe Egipcians ars metrick and astrologie..vnknowe to hem to fore honde.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 1883 (MED) Noe..lete vte a rauin and forth he flou, Dun and vp, soght here and þare A stede to sett apon sumquar.
a1425 (?a1350) Seven Sages (Galba) (1907) l. 4142 Þai sold..spir in stretes, vp and downe, Efter a man of strange cuntre.
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) vi. l. 1450 (MED) To Mitridate legates wer doun sent From the Romeyns.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 220 (MED) Kyng Edward remeved fro the heyer cuntre of Frauns, and cam down to Paris.
?a1500 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Peterhouse) f. 71 (MED) Þe paciente shall walke vppe and doune a litill aforne þat he shall blede.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. L.v Vesputius..departed from the hauen of lisburne, and sayled downe by the coastes of the sea Atlantike, vntil he came vnder the Equinoctial lyne.
1599 Abp. G. Abbot Briefe Descr. Worlde sig. Ev Some of these Spanyards desirous for to see how farre this land of Peru did goe towardes the South, trauelled downe till at length they founde the lands end.
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne i. iv, in Wks. I. 538 I..went downe to my tenants, in the countrey.
1671 Lady M. Bertie Let. in Hist. MSS Comm.: 12th Rep. App. Pt. V: MSS Duke of Rutland (1889) 22 in Parl. Papers (C. 5889–II) XLIV. 393 You[r] mourning..which Fynes sent downe a Thursday.
1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse i. 18 The last..[letter] was to tell him, his Lordship wou'd be down in a Forthnight to Consummate.
1719 T. Gordon Apol. Danger of Church 14 I happen'd to be down in Essex about the time when Sir John Norris was sent into the Baltick.
1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 10 We took in six Cows to carry down to St. Jago.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xix. 212 We caught him up accidentally in our journey down.
1811 Henry & Isabella I. 145 Captain Mason..on his return to England went down to the north to reside.
1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy I. i. 1 A gentleman who lived down in Hampshire.
1899 B. Capes At Winter's Fire 77 They were down in the sou'-west country.
1947 M. P. Willcocks True-born Englishman xiv. 156 The two men..travelling down to Somerset, using the horse the Parson has borrowed from his clerk.
1985 N. Pileggi Wiseguy 188 He starts talking about how the guys..must all be down in Puerto Rico or Florida basking in the sun.
1997 E. Hand Glimmering ii. xi. 239 Someone from away trying to launch a twenty-six-foot gaff cutter in hurricane season and sail down to New York City.
2010 P. Daniels Class Actor xxxi. 207 He might have lost his accent slightly from being down in London, hanging out with posh Southerners like me.
b. From a higher to a lower executive, legislative, or judicial body, spec. from the House of Lords to the House of Commons; (more generally) from any higher authority.See also to send down 1 at send v.1 Phrasal verbs.
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1449–50 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1449 §17. m. 4 The speker of the parlement opened and declared in the comen hous, before the chaunceller of Englond and other lordes with hym accompanied, to theym sent doun by the kynges commaundement, and at here owen request, [etc.].
1455–6 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. July 1455 §47. m. 13 That it please your highnesse, that if so be that ye like, by thadvis of youre lordes spirituelx and temporelx in this present parlement assembled, to make eny provisions or exceptions other than be conteigned in this oure peticion, that than the seid provisions and excepcions be sende doune unto us, to that ende that we may gife oure assentz therto.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. iiiv Wherfore in all haste he sent downe gyuyng strayte commaundement yt they shuld cease of yt ryot.
1583 W. Lambarde Duties of Constables 21 The Officer must take regard, and consider whether the Warrant doe come directly from the meere authoritie of the Iustices of Peace, or else be grounded vppon a writ of Supplicauit sent downe from higher authoritie.
1646 Perfect Diurnall No. 143. 1148 An Ordinance was sent down from the Lords for constituting a committee at Haberdashers hall, which after the reading thereof was rejected.
1678 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 48 All but six Lords disliked the Commons adresse to the King, so it was sent them downe againe.
1682 Tryal Nathaniel Thompson, William Pain, & John Farwell 22 There was an Order come down from the Coroner, to get him stripp'd.
1749 in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1903) 9 51 A proclamation, declaring certain money coined in Ireland, was sent down by the Lord Deputy and Council to be passable.
1775 Ann. Reg. 1774 Hist. Europe 74/2 This passed through that house with very little if any observation. But when it came down to the house of commons it met with a very different reception.
1861 Church of Eng. Mag. 31 Dec. 13/2 The form came down to the lower house in February last with certain alterations agreed to by the upper house.
1896 Law Times Rep. 73 636/1 I think that this case must go down for a new trial.
1958 Manch. Guardian 28 Jan. 4/7 The House of Lords will complete the remaining stages of the Life Peerages Bill this week and will send it down to the House of Commons.
2002 R. A. Freeman in Writing Wrongs 51 Inevitably, the order came down to take reprisals.
2016 M. Bazyler Holocaust, Genocide & Law iii. viii. 239 The Appeals Chamber in December 2015 reversed the acquittals of Serb military officers..and sent the case back down for a retrial.
c. Preceding a prepositional phrase of place, without the implication that this is lower in position or further south: at a moderate distance from a point of reference; off, away.Cf. down prep. 4.
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1756 T. Turner Diary 28 Mar. (1984) (modernized text) 36 We smoked a pipe or two and then went down to Jones's, where we drank one bowl of punch.
1843 J. M. Neale Songs & Ballads for People 14 So they're down at the Chequers, and at it once more!
1936 San Antonio (Texas) Sunday Light 23 Feb. (Sports section) 1/1 Where will mother go! She'll be down at the bookies Betting 'em to show.
1970 A. Buzo Front Room Boys i, in Plays 20 If I were one of the back room boys, you wouldn't see me here before noon. I'd be down by the pool.
2010 Times 11 Dec. (Sat. Review section) 1 He was an obsessive reader, down at the local library three times a week.
d. Chiefly British. Away from university or college, esp. for the vacation or following graduation. Chiefly with reference to Oxford and Cambridge universities. See also to send down 2 at send v.1 Phrasal verbs, to come down 5 at come v. Phrasal verbs 1, to go down 11 at go v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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1825 E. Darwin Let. June in C. Darwin Corr. (1985) I. 17 I shall be down in about 3 weeks & then Gracious Heavens! how you will chatter but.
1883 Cambr. Staircase viii. 137 I am in college, and there I intend to remain till I go down.
1904 E. H. Coleridge Life & Corr. Ld. Coleridge I. iv. 58 Friends..who wrote to him during the vacations and when he was obliged to ‘stay down’, owing to prolonged ill-health.
1918 B. Donne-Smith Let. 27 Feb. in M. Bonfiglioli & J. Munson Full of Hope & Fear (2014) 77 We go down on the 16th, that is if I am called up by then. Otherwise I may do a vac course.
1984 Listener 15 Mar. 34/1 A group of latter-day Bright Young Things just down from Oxford.
2014 A. Goodare Sleeping Partners xiv. 200 Cambridge in the summer months, once the students have gone down, is transformed from a centre of academic excellence, into a theme park.
4. With reference to the setting of the sun, moon, and other celestial objects: towards or below the horizon.See also to go down 1b at go v. Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > heavenly body > movement of heavenly bodies > [adverb] > set
downc1330
under1490
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 2018 Er þe sonne doun te.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. viii. x. 470 In þe nynþe gree þerof Pliadas goþ doun.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6800 Ar sun ga dun þat ilk dai.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 120 The day wex dym doun was þe sun.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 18 The rysing, and goyng downe of every Planet.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. i. 3 The Moone is downe: I haue not heard the Clock.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. ii. 89 Far Northward or Southward..the Sun goeth not down, as they find that Sail about the North Cape.
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Cock & Fox in Fables 231 When the Sun was down, They just arriv'd by twilight at a Town.
1767 tr. D. Cranz Hist. Greenland I. i. iii. 48 In the shortest days sometimes the moon never goes down, as on the other hand we see little of it in summer.
1882 Cent. Mag. July 397/1 The sun was down and it was time to ‘knock off’.
1894 ‘M. Twain’ Tom Sawyer Abroad i. 24 Ef we..slips acrost de river to-night arter de moon's gone down, en kills dat sick fambly.
1901 E. Arnold Voy. Ithobal 89 We steered by it When the North Star went down and helped no more.
1905 Out West Mar. 211 The sun plunged down behind the peaks and the air became chilly.
1992 C. McCarthy All Pretty Horses (1993) ii. 102 They went to work on the green colts daybreak Sunday morning,..walking out to the potrero before the stars were down.
5. Below the surface or to the bottom of water; into the depths of the sea.See also to go down 5a at go v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 197 A boot þat was so hevy lade wiþ men..þat it sanke doun and was a-draynt.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 17508 He [sc. a whirlpool] devoureth..Al that peyseth or yiveth soun, To the botme yt goth doun.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. xiv. f. lxxxiiv He was afrayed agayn, and began to sinke downe & be in danger of drowning.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 46 Brasse and lead in the masse or lumpe, sinke downe,..but if they be driuen out into thin plates, they flote.
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 298 One, or both of those ships..goes down with all their passengers in the very bottome.
a1800 W. Cowper Loss Royal George in W. Hayley Life & Posthumous Writings Cowper (1803) I. 127 When Kempenfelt went down, With twice four hundred men.
1886 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 2 Jan. 4/7 A boat's crew of the whaling schooner..was taken down by a whale near the Cape Verd Islands.
1910 L. Woolf Diary 25 Jan. in Rec. Colonial Administrator (1963) 127 The women..swim out about 300 yards from the shore and then dive down and fish up big coral stones.
1999 J. R. Nicolson Shetland Fishermen ix. 129 Skipper..and crew had barely time to get their life-jackets on when the vessel went down.
2001 BBC Wildlife Sept. 27 (caption) Mastigoteuthid squid are reddish in colour and live thousands of metres down.
6.
†a. With turn. Upside down, so as to be inverted. Obsolete.See also to turn down 1 at turn v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 1602 (MED) Þus es þis world turned up þat es doune.
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole ii. lvii. 529 Cut off the stalke, and turne it downe, that the Syrupe may drayne forth.
1763 Brit. Mag. 4 117 Sometimes she turns down my cup herself, after the first dish.
1860 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth III. 229 He took a candle and lighted it, and turned it down..till it burned his fingers; when he dropped it double quick.
b. Oriented so as to face the ground; (of a surface) facing downwards.
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1580 A. Munday Paine of Pleasure f. 20v But well the world is figurde rounde: that turneth like a Ball: Now this side vp, now that side downe, as Fortune lets it fall.
1710 P. Lamb Royal Cookery 64 Put them over the Fire till they fry as yellow as Gold, when one Side is yellow turn the other down.
1732 Art of Drawing & Painting in Water-colours (ed. 2) 15 With a spunge and water wet the backside of the Print, and turn the printed side down upon a piece of white Paper.
1872 E. Eggleston End of World xxvi. 177 The cards were put face down, and the company was bantered to bet the wine.
1889 G. M. Hopkins Exper. Sci. (1893) xx. 557 When the sheet of mica, thus prepared, is placed silvered side down..the spark leaps downward to the mica surface.
a1910 ‘M. Twain’ Autobiography (1924) I. 8 A slab bench is made of the outside cut of a saw-log, with the bark side down.
2013 Daily Tel. 27 Sept. 29/2 The camera drifts over a lake to reveal the drowned body of a man floating face down.
c. With fold or turn. So that two parts of the same surface are in contact.See also to turn down 4b at turn v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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1589 A. Munday tr. F. de Vernassal Hist. Palmendos xxix. f. 89 Seeing all her Guarde soundly sleeping, he folded down the bed clothes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 324 Is not the Leafe turn'd downe Where I left reading?
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. 89 Fold it down.
1711 Mil. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4) Uncap your Cartridges, Is to take off the Top of the Paper, which is folded down at the End, that so the Powder may fall loose to the Touch-hole.
1776 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opinions III. xli. 140 If thou are disposed to take a little refreshing nap, fold down the page good temperedly.
1816 W. Walton tr. A. Puigblanch Inquisition Unmasked I. iv. 238 He shall fold down the leaf, and after reading some moments longer, he shall say to him ‘It is just as I have said, why therefore do you deny it, when you see I know the whole matter?’
1873 H. W. Beecher Motherly Talks xxiii. 90 In spreading on the upper sheet, bring it well up to the head of the bed, that you may have a handsome, generous width to turn down.
1943 Life 1 Nov. 13/1 Grab the edge of the sheet about 2 feet from the corner. Lift it up straight so it makes a triangle; with your other hand, tuck in the overhang. Fold the triangle down, and tuck it in.
2001 T. Hogg & M. Blau Secrets Baby Whisperer vi. 182 To swaddle properly, fold the corner of a square receiving blanket down into a triangle.
7. Senses originally involving transfer to a surface by the hand.
a. With reference to payment: (laid) upon the table or counter; (paid) on the spot, upfront; as an initial payment.See also to lay down 4 at lay v.1 Phrasal verbs, to pay down 1 at pay v.1 Phrasal verbs, to put down 6 at put v. Phrasal verbs 1, to stake down at stake v.3 2, cash down n. at cash n.1 2f.
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society > trade and finance > payment > [adverb] > immediate or cash
down?a1425
on the nail1569
spot1855
?a1425 (a1415) Lanterne of Liȝt (Harl.) (1917) 104 (MED) Paie doun money from ȝoure purse, to my lordis almes.
a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) l. 2192 (MED) A certayn soume þai sal lay doune, Or els hete of þer gudes to gif.
1557 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 265 Payeng vijli done.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ii. 86 I dare pawn downe my life for him. View more context for this quotation
1669 in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 11 Lord Huntington's marriage..with Sir James Langham's daughter, who gives 20,000l. downe.
1756 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 118/2 Thompson..contrived to marry another wife, with whom he received one hundred pounds down, and a note or bond for one hundred pounds more.
1797 F. Reynolds Will iv. 52 He owes me and Sir Solomon above fourteen hundred pounds; and do you think either of us will be content with the security of a minor? No, no—we'll have the money down.
1813 Ld. Carrington Let. 27 July in R. Leighton Corr. C. Grenville (1920) 167 My Daughter's fortune is ten thousand pounds down, and the like sum to be paid at my death.
1894 Ld. Wolseley Life Marlborough I. 77 For a lump sum down, and a liberal annuity..Charles agreed to declare war.
1920 T. S. Eliot Let. 5 July (1988) I. 390 People have been demanding ‘premiums’; two to five hundred pounds down on signing the lease, besides the regular rent.
1970 G. Chapman et al. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1989) II. xxiv. 2 All right then, the briefcase and the umbrella. A fiver down, must be my final offer.
2009 New Yorker 6 Apr. 36/1 In 2006, two out of five first-time home buyers in California put no money down, relying on a variety of ‘loan products’ whose nicknames foretold trouble.
b.
(a) On or on to paper or other surface used for writing; in writing.See also to get down 1c at get v. Phrasal verbs 1, to put down 5a at put v. Phrasal verbs 1, to set down 5a at set v.1 Phrasal verbs 2, to take down 5a at take v. Phrasal verbs 1, to write down 1 at write v. Phrasal verbs, etc.
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1543 R. Record Ground of Artes f. 118 For example I wyll set downe this summe 287965.
1576 A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. Argt. 236 In the margent, the name of the person is set downe to whome the same was directed.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. ii. 15 Write downe maister gentleman Conrade. View more context for this quotation
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xvi. 448 Many shoals..are not laid down in our Drafts.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 155. ⁋2 I will keep Pen and Ink at the Bar, and write down all they say to me.
1712 W. Rogers Cruising Voy. 248 I took down the Names.
1797 Encycl. Brit. II. 432/2 These..are to be noted down..upon a large message-card.
1866 Once a Week 17 Mar. 297/2 A list scrawled down on a certain page in his betting-book.
1870 P. C. Headley Astronomer & Soldier xv. 164 The reader of the ‘despatch’ sits looking through his glass, calling off the numbers to his assistant, who notes them down.
1919 S. Anderson Winesburg, Ohio 149 She..wrote down a series of sharp, stinging reproofs she intended to pour out upon him.
1943 E. H. W. Meyerstein Let. 7 June (1959) 269 I have made myself go into the front room to get this down after thinking about it since we met.
1953 D. Thomas Let. 20 Feb. (1987) 871 He appears to believe that all he has to do is to scribble down, in separate lines, a few soulful sentimental stale-phrases.
2015 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 28 May a16/2 She nods, jots down notes and interjects conversations with words of encouragement.
(b) With ellipsis of put, set, etc.: that has had one's name put down for something, or to do something; scheduled.
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1770 Weekly Mag. 17 May 202 She excluded him from her will, where he was down for the greatest part of her fortune.
1855 Observer 1 Apr. 4/5 The bill is down for second reading on the 16th proximo.
1881 Rep. Royal Commissioners Corrupt Pract. City of Oxf. 40 Glanville is Mr. Graham's managing clerk at Abingdon, and he is down for ten guineas.
1942 N. Coward Diary 4 Mar. (2000) 15 Finally I was told I was down to fire-watch on Saturday night.
1982 Irish Times 9 Mar. 6/4 There were also other motions down for consideration.
2014 @BlueGlassBoy 27 Feb. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) What time does it start? I'm down to do a late shift..this evening.
8. To or on the ground floor or floor below; downstairs, esp. from one's bedroom, or to the dining room.Sometimes spec. with reference to the custom of a man escorting a female guest downstairs and into dinner: see to send down 5 at send v.1 Phrasal verbs, to take down 8 at take v. Phrasal verbs 1.See also two-up two-down n. at two-up n. 3.
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?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 82 She wente doun fro the wyndowe of the hye tour, And alle rauysshyd of dispayr, entryd allone in to her chambre.
1534 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 126 He..came downe with a poker in his hande.
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. v. 66 Is she not downe so late or vp so early? View more context for this quotation
1629 J. Wadsworth Eng. Spanish Pilgrime iii. 15 At seuen, which is their houre of breakefast, they go downe two by two with their bookes vnder their armes.
1660 S. Pepys Diary 6 Mar. (1970) I. 78 They all went down into the dining-room.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xvii. 110 I will go down..and excuse your attendance at afternoon-tea.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. iv. 38 Down came my wife and daughters.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lvi. 510 He..would smile when George came down late for breakfast.
1866 M. Oliphant Miss Marjoribanks I. iv. 48 She was down to breakfast, ready to pour out the coffee, before the Doctor had left his room.
1887 Mrs. J. H. Perks From Heather Hills II. xviii. 308 A quiet dinner-party, with a nice, sensible man to take you down.
1923 Daily Clintonian (Clinton, Indiana) 19 June 7/3 ‘My Lily, she be down soon,’ he said. ‘She's sprucing herself up for you.’
1942 A. L. Rowse Cornish Childhood (1944) i. 22 It had two rooms up and two down.
1965 J. Porter Dover Two ix. 108 He came down to breakfast more boot-faced than ever and lost no time in burying himself in the morning paper.
1997 R. Robinson Skip all That vii. 107 I encountered room service of a very Irish order, for when I rang down for some ice it was brought to the room on a dinner plate, by a nun.
2015 P. Beatty Sellout xxii. 246 Mr. Witherspoon will be down in a minute. Can I get you a water?
9. With reference to eating or drinking: down the throat; so as to be completely consumed.See also to go down 6 at go v. Phrasal verbs 1, to wash down at wash v. 14.
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the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > [adverb] > down throat or into stomach
down1510
1510 A. Chertsey tr. Floure Commaundementes of God (de Worde) ii. lvii. f. cxliv/2 In eatinge at dynere the bone of a fysshe abode in his throte the whiche he ne myght cast ne swalowe downe.
1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda 1st Bk. Hist. Discouerie E. Indias xvii. 44 The king shuld not swallow ye same downe.
a1640 P. Massinger City-Madam (1658) i. i. 149 Butchers meat will not go down.
1660 tr. M. Amyraut Treat. conc. Relig. ii. vi. 241 A bitter potion that is soon down.
1713 T. Cave Let. 16 Jan. in M. M. Verney Verney Lett. (1930) I. xiii. 244 The London Postmaster, who yet swallow'd down a pint glass of Ale to the poor Boy's health.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xviii. 193 Fletcher, Ben Johnson, and all the plays of Shakespear, are the only things that go down.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 105 Which homely fare they wash down with a spoonful of light wine.
1865 G. MacDonald Alec Forbes I. viii. 44 They gobbled down their breakfasts with all noises except articulate ones.
1947 F. H. Shaw White Sails & Spindrift ix.164 Lean, lithe men..gulping down uncounted gallons of harsh tea.
1956 Argus (Melbourne) 17 Feb. 4/6 Belyando spew..was an old-time bush expression for vomiting, and ‘failure to keep food down’.
1988 H. Mantel Eight Months on Ghazzah St. (1989) 220 I have swallowed down the rumour. It was a rumour that was tailor-made.
2015 J. Niven All Bright Places 248 She pops the tab on her soda and drinks half of it down.
10. So as to lie or be fixed flush or flat; so as to remain securely in place.See also to stick down at stick v.1 Phrasal verbs 1, to tie down at tie v. Phrasal verbs, etc.
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1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. iii. f. 6v Those women that loue not to curle vp their heare..but vse to kembe it down smoothely.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iii. 51 You may tack down two small thin boards on either side.., to keep it steddy.
1779 J. Smeaton Reports (1812) I. 399 The tool is tightly held down..by a wedge.
1861 Amer. Agriculturist July 197/1 Spread one of them over each..shock of grain, fastening it down at the corners with the wooden pins.
1938 Amer. Home Oct. (inside rear cover) (advt.) No scraping and flattening down of the nap. The Agitator (found only in the Hoover) taps up hidden dirt and swishes it away.
1990 W. A. Livesey GCSE Motor Vehicle Stud. ii. 22/1 The commercial traveller..uses it with the rear seats folded down during the week to carry his wares.
2015 Saga Mag. Oct. 96/2 Fall-proof your home: tape down or remove worn/frayed carpet, tape trailing extension leads to skirting boards and clear away clutter.
11. With reference to travel or transport by water: with the current or the wind. Also (of a ship's helm): moved round to leeward so that the rudder is to windward.See also to bear down 3a at bear v.1 Phrasal verbs 1.
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1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. v. sig. Gg4 The carcas with the streame was carried downe, But th'head fell backeward on the Continent.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iv. 127 While toward the Sea, our..Thames Bore downe my Barke vpon her ebbing streames.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World vii. 208 We bore down right afore the wind on our Enemies.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Bearing-up We say, up to windward and down to leeward.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xv. 136 We drifted down, broadside on, and went smash into the Lagoda.
1863 C. Lyell Geol. Evid. Antiq. Man iii. 53 Some silt carried down in suspension by the waters of the Forth.
1939 E. D. Laborde tr. E. de Martonne Shorter Physical Geogr. (rev. ed.) vi. 95 The sheets of ice..are swept by marine currents right down to the temperate zone.
1973 P. O'Brian HMS Surprise iii. 51 He took the tiller and sent her racing away down to leeward with the fresh breeze on her larboard quarter.
1991 Alaska Apr. 43/1 Bud showed him the workings of the spinning reel, demonstrated how to cast upstream and float the lure down with the current.
12. With reference to a river or other body of water: to or at a low level; below the usual water level.
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1612 W. Shute tr. T. de Fougasses Gen. Hist. Venice iv. 550 So soone as the waters were downe, the Marquis pursued the Kings Army.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden cclii. 7 It cannot be seen but when the Tide is down.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) i. 55 When the River is down.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 62 I resolv'd to go as before, when the Tide was down, and I did so, only that I stripp'd before I went from my Hut.
1797 Trans. Soc. Arts 15 155 Fortunately there happened to be an outfall, to carry away the water from the tunnel when the tide was going down.
1808 Repertory Patent Inventions 13 261 By the time the lower pond is full, the tide will be running down strong enough to admit of the wheel being turned backwards.
1894 H. Caine Manxman 100 The tide was down, the harbour was empty of water.
1950 W. O. Douglas Men & Mountains viii. 101 When the reservoir is full, there is a winding expanse of beautiful blue water. When it is down, stumps of the old forest, waterlogged driftwood, and mud flats stand exposed in ugliness.
2010 N.Y. Times 10 Jan. (Travel section) 8/4 Blithely assuming that by mid-June the river would be down in its summer mode, I had not even bothered to check the Corps of Engineers Web site that gives daily water levels.
13. Theatre. At or towards the front of the stage; downstage.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > stage > [adverb] > front of stage
downstage1793
down1838
1838 N. H. Bannister Gentleman of Lyons v. v. 40 Here Julian, who had been listening eagerly to the letter, comes down centre.
1893 O. Wilde Lady Windermere's Fan i. 15 Lord Darlington (Moves up C.)..Lord Darlington (Coming down back of table).
a1916 H. James Compl. Plays (1949) 193 Enter Noémie Nioche and Lord Deepmere, rapidly down from centre.
1939 N. Coward Second Play Parade 17 An ordinary bus sign R.C. [= right centre] down on footlights.
1972 R. Cooney & J. Chapman Move Over, Mrs. Markham i. 1 The important furniture is a sofa down right centre of the drawing room, an armchair down left centre, a low pouffe down left and a small coffee table in front of the sofa.
1995 S. McBurney & M. Wheatley Three Lives Lucie Cabrol 3 Jean enters. He washes, drinks a little, and comes down centre.
14. colloquial. In or to prison. Usually in to be down for (a specified crime or amount of time).See also to go down 14 at go v. Phrasal verbs 1, to send down 4 at send v.1 Phrasal verbs, to take down 12 at take v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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1840 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 2 Aug. 2/5 She scorned to find surety in $500 to keep the peace, so she was sent down.
1852 G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes I. iii. 111 They [sc. transported convicts] never meet again with that implicit trust which those who have never ‘been down’ have a right to expect.
1891 Rep. Commissioners appointed Prison & Reformatory Syst. Ont. App. E. 274 A man might be taken up for drunkenness to-day who may have been down for larceny on some further occasions.
1928 B. Cormack Racket ii. 95 I thought Enright was down for some bank job.
1977 E. Bunker Animal Factory i. 12 You'll look like Gina Lollobrigida to some of those animals who've been down for eight or nine years.
2002 J. Lerner You got Nothing Coming (2003) i. 13 Whatchu down for this time?
15. Esp. of a baby or child: in or to bed; asleep, to sleep.See also to go down 15 at go v. Phrasal verbs 1, to put down 12 at put v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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1849 E. C. Gaskell Hand & Heart i She'll tire you..you'd better let me put her down in her cot.
1871 G. MacDonald At Back of North Wind xxv. 231 There's baby fast asleep!... Shall I put him down, mother?
1873 J. G. Holland Arthur Bonnicastle vi. 105 Walking tiptoe into the stable, he said: ‘The old woman is down for a nap.’
1922 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 14 Jan. 9/6 If you'll excuse me I'll go down for a nap.
1988 P. M. Siegel New Mother's Body ix. 172 A dinner by candlelight at home once the baby's down.
1996 S. Ellis Back of Beyond (1997) 65 You take care of your brother. Give him a bath and make sure he's down by eight.
2018 @AdriaanBrae 22 Apr. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) As soon as the baby's down for the night, so am I.
16. American Football and Canadian Football. Of the ball: not in play, typically due to the player in possession of the ball being tackled, or due to legal progress being stopped for some other reason. Of a player in possession of the ball: on, or in contact with, the ground, so as to render the ball dead according to the rules. Cf. down n.4 5.
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1897 Normal Pointer Oct. 16/1 Giffin kicked to Pease who was down on the 30-yard line.
1906 Oberlin Alumni Mag. Nov. 73/1 A runner is down when any part of his body except his hands or his feet touch the ground while he is in the grasp of an opponent.
1949 Boys' Life Jan. 22/4 As soon as a ball carrier's hand or elbow touches the ground, he is ‘down’.
1970 Childress (Texas) Index 25 Oct. 10/2 Play opened with Lane kicking and the ball was down on the five. On the next play Seymour fumbled.
2007 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 29 Oct. 16 c Adrian Peterson picked up the ball at the Vikings 1-yard line and stepped out of bounds. Officials ruled the ball down at that spot.
II. Of order, time, condition, quality, or value. Cf. up adv.1 II., up adv.2 II.
17.
a. To or in a worse, lower, or less esteemed position or condition; to or in a state of subjection, humiliation, or defeat.See also to bring down 3 at bring v. Phrasal verbs 1, to come (also go) down in the world at world n. Phrases 16d, to dumb down at dumb v. Additions, to pull down 1 at pull v. Phrasal verbs, to put down 3 at put v. Phrasal verbs 1, to talk down at talk v. 3c, to throw down 3 at throw v.1 Phrasal verbs.
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the world > action or operation > adversity > [adverb] > from prosperous condition
downc1175
downward1596
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5728 Swa þatt illc an unnclene lusst..Be[o] trededd dun. þurrh lufe off godd.
a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 9 Þi kare was ouer-comen..ded and deuel driuen doun Þwen þi sone risen wes.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 15050 Els his euelle suld bring him doun.
c1400 Comm. on Canticles (Bodl. 288) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) III. 19 Of þi myche joie þou didist doun alle yvele spiritis.
1553 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Eneados i. Contents Rutulianis..By the deceise of Camylla, Doun bet.
1605 M. Drayton Poems sig. Dd8v Who can raise him that Fortune will haue downe?
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Ll4v The Olympian Games are downe long since. View more context for this quotation
1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. ii. vii. 176 Annibal, now quite downe.
1745 L. Howard Newest Man. Private Devotions i. 231 Let no envious nor bad-minded Men endeavour to pull him down.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison V. x. 56 Your brother is indeed enough to put all other men down.
a1854 H. Reed Lect. Brit. Poets (1857) viii. 274 If the spirit of a nation goes down, its poetry will go down with it.
a1865 E. C. Gaskell Wives & Daughters (1866) II. xi. 109 I shall go down in your opinion.
1872 C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David III. Ps. lxix. 26 If a godly man be a little down in estate.
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands v. 51 Miss Pilcher..had come down in the world.
1979 ‘The Clash’ I'm not Down (transcribed from song) in London Calling I've been beat up, I've been thrown out But I'm not down, I'm not down.
2008 M. M. Dalton & L. R. Linder Teacher TV iv. 61 Between 1950 and 1970, most people born into a particular social class stayed in that class or moved up. This began changing in the 1970s, as more people started moving down as well.
2016 L. Erdrich LaRose 214 It isn't our fault they keep us down; they savaged our culture, family structure, and most of all we need our land back.
b. colloquial. In low spirits; dejected, dispirited, depressed. Frequently in to be down.See also to get down 1d at get v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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1612 B. Jonson Alchemist iv. vii. sig. L Thou art so downe vpon the least disaster! View more context for this quotation
a1653 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 113 Men's hearts are downe.
1737 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 570/1 What happen'd at the busy town, That makes blyth William look so down?
1782 S. Johnson Let. 4 June (1994) IV. 46 When I pressed your hand at parting, I was rather down.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) x. 240 The Captain is rather down about it, but I tell him to cheer up.
1872 Testimony Joint Select Comm. Condition of Affairs Late Insurrectionary States: Mississippi I. 274 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (42nd Congr., 2nd Sess.: Senate Rep. 22, Pt. 11) II The Ku-Klux then left me, and went off as if they had been stealing sheep; they were very down about it; I do not think they felt as if they had accomplished what they intended.
1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas xi. 117 I was feeling kind of down, on account that tooth of mine was giving me the devil.
1953 ‘N. Shute’ In Wet v. 171 It's just being cooped up in the office gets you down a bit.
2010 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) Feb. 168/2 I used to comfort-eat chocolate when I was down. Now I go for a run.
c. With cry, frown, hiss, shout, etc.: so as to silence, dismiss, or subdue the object of the verb.See also to cry down at cry v. Phrasal verbs 1, to hiss down at hiss v. 4.
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a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. i. 6 Here's a villaine that would face me downe He met me on the Mart. View more context for this quotation
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. i. 20 The French..Shone downe the English. View more context for this quotation
1681 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Reformation: 2nd Pt. ii. 281 There were also many in the Assembly that often hissed him down, so that he could not be heard at all.
1792 J. Pearson Polit. Dict. 10 If the House are too sleepy to cough him down, they'll soon snore him down.
1841 Congress. Globe 18 June 75/3 Mr. G. said that he was not to be coughed or cried down; gentlemen mistook their man if they supposed he was to be affected by the machinery of the political party.
1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta 2nd Ser. 272 He was immediately frowned down by Mrs. Snagsby.
1946 E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh i. 89 They all hoot him down in a chorus of amused jeering. Hugo is not offended.
1999 H. Raven in G. Tansey & J. D'Silva Meat Business xix. 218 Any discussion of eco-taxes being applied to UK farming is shouted down by the farming unions.
2011 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 10 Mar. 15/4 No one hooted him down; instead his speech was published as one of the council's working papers.
18.
a. From a higher to a lower point or member in any series, order, or hierarchy; from a major detail or feature to one that is smaller or less important (frequently in expressions emphasizing completeness or thoroughness, as down to the last (also finest, smallest, etc.) detail). Also without to, esp. in to count down (see to count down at count v. Phrasal verbs).See also to change down at change v. Phrasal verbs and (in the context of bell-ringing) hunting down at hunt v. 7a.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1659 Fra þe mast dun to þe lest.
c1450 (?a1422) J. Lydgate Life Our Lady (Durh.) (1961) vi. l. 350 This high feste, Fro the highest doun to the leste, Euery man and woman in her honde To the Temple shulde a tapre bryng.
1666 J. Tillotson Rule of Faith iii. vii. 231 Prodigious Impiety and Wickedness did overspread the Church, from the Pope down to the meanest of the Laity.
1684 R. Howlett School Recreat. 92 So by turns, 'till every Bell being hunted up and down, comes into its proper Place again.
1729 A. Ramsay Poems II. 113 The Tyger, Bair, and ev'ry powerfu' Fur, Down to the Wilcat, and the snarling Cur.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. xii. 64 From the great and tremendous oath of William the Conqueror, (By the splendour of God) down to the lowest oath of a scavenger, (Damn your eyes).
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) II. 68 Every country has its etiquettes..in Spain, down even to the taking of a pinch of snuff.
1853 J. Ruskin Lect. Archit. iv. §132 Working everything, down to the most minute detail, from nature, and from nature only.
1871 A. B. Mitford Tales Old Japan II. 122 The custom of abdication is common among all classes, from the Emperor down.
1876 G. O. Trevelyan Life & Lett. Macaulay I. i. 53 From the highest effort of genius down to the most detestable trash.
1910 Times 23 Aug. 5/2 On ascents on which a driver..would have supposed the time had come for altering the gear, they reached the top without any change down.
1945 L. G. Green Where Men Still Dream 173 All the animals, from the elephant and lion down to the desert mice, flourish on the speckled green melon.
1960 Spectator 14 Oct. 565 A horrifyingly plausible spiv, even down to that awful ‘scouse’ accent.
1972 Rolling Stone 7 Dec. 50/3 The screen blanks out, counts down 5–4–3–2–1, and redisplays a new battle.
2006 K. W. Bender Moneymakers x. 219 The currency conversion was prepared down to the last detail.
2009 Independent 2 Feb. (Life section) 13/3 Harem, dhoti and gaucho trousers are everywhere, from the catwalk down.
b. From an earlier to a later time. Frequently with to, specifying the later time.See also to come down 8b at come v. Phrasal verbs 1, to hand down 1 at hand v. Phrasal verbs, down to date adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adverb] > from an earlier to a later time
down1415
1415 T. Hoccleve Addr. to Sir John Oldcastle l. 122 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 12 Vnto seint Petir and his successours, And so foorth doun.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 1753 (MED) Of kyngges redeth the story doune be rowe.
1567 T. Stapleton Counterblast ii. vii. f. 117v The continual practise of the Church from Constantines tyme down to his.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. i. §5 Down from the time of Moses.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. v. 693 This Notion..was from the first Feigner or Inventor of it, propagated all along and conveyed down, by Oral Tradition.
1747 G. Berkeley Let. Tar-water in Plague 5 Throughout all ages down to our own.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 64 These customs..continued down through the several mutations of government and inhabitants, to the present time, unchanged and unadulterated.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 228 The accounts which the ancients have handed down to us.
1859 Harper's Mag. Feb. 323/2 From the time of Queen Bess down to the close of the last century.
1913 Amer. Jrnl. Archaeol. 17 110 Architectural terra-cottas..have received much attention, the material coming from Nemi, Conca.., Falerii, and Campania, especially Capua (from the sixth century down).
1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 June 419/2 The period of the Aten heresy..which may be said to cover a little more than half-a-century down to 1346 b.c.
2008 B. Mees Sci. of Swastika iii. 54 The great majority are found in Scandinavia, where runic was a living alphabet down to modern times.
c. So as to be lower in pitch; to a lower musical note or key.
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c1450 (?c1425) St. Christina in Anglia (1885) 8 128 Þat songe hadde a-lone notes vp and down & tones of musyke.
?1596 W. Bathe Briefe Introd. Skill of Song sig. A.vi C putteth Vt to the fift place vp, and from C down to the fourth.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke Annot. sig. ¶3 If you would knowe whereby any note singeth,..name the note and so come downeward to vt: example, you woulde knowe wherby sol in g sol re ut singeth, come down thus, sol fa mi re vt.
1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony vi. 126 The other two [sc. Enharmonic and Chromatic], if for Curiosities sake we consider them only by running the Notes of an Octave up or down in these Scales, seem rather a force upon Nature.
1787 C. Davy Lett. to Young Gentleman I. 418 Tune a fifth down to F.
1827 Harmonicon Apr. 108/1 The above, if transposed down into E flat, will answer equally well for the organ.
1859 E. C. Gaskell Haunted House: Ghost in Garden Room in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 13 Dec. 36/2 ‘An equivalent,’ said Nathan: his voice had dropped down an octave.
1941 J. O. Sanders in J. F. Dobie et al. Texian Stomping Grounds 80 Fiddlers sometimes tune the E string down to D on ‘Cotton-Eyed Joe’.
1979 Washington Post 22 Apr. n2/1 I started developing a reaction to the dyes... My throat closed up. My voice went down several registers.
2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 20 Dec. 63/1 Singers could alter the written pitches up or down by the introduction of sharps and flats.
d. To or at a lower number, quantity, price, or degree.See also to call down 1 at call v. Phrasal verbs 1, to come down 9 at come v. Phrasal verbs 1, to go down 1c at go v. Phrasal verbs 1, to knock down 7 at knock v. Phrasal verbs, to mark down 2 at mark v. Phrasal verbs, to turn down 5b at turn v. Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > low price or rate > [adverb] > to or at reduced price
down?1542
off-price1910
?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors ii. sig. A8 His grace will call down the pryce of his owne landes.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1161/2 He had alwayes corne plentye, and when the markets were very deare, hee woulde send plentye of his corne thether to plucke down the prices therof.
1573 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Glasgow (1876) I. 449 Gevin to James Andersoun..doun of his ferme be ressoun of the greit droutht, xxj li.
1622 G. de Malynes Maintenance of Free Trade 53 The price of Cloth beateth downe the price of Wooll; the price of Wooll beateth downe the price of Lands, which cannot be improued.
1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. ii. 112 Bringing down the Price of Coals.
1705 I. Newton in Corr. (1967) IV. 466 The great glut of Tin when the time of ye bargain expires may make it fall down to 45s pr [cwt] in London or lower.
1776 E. Pendleton Let. 16 Mar. in Lett. & Papers (1967) I. 158 More than that price we are determined not to give..that we may in some measure keep down the Price and prevent Extortioners from exacting exorbitant Prices.
1838 T. B. Macaulay in Edinb. Rev. Oct. 142 Cutting down his salary.
1884 Overland Monthly Sept. 259/2 The ship was not stopped, only slowed down.
1894 Daily News 14 Apr. 5/2 Turbot is down too.
1916 M. Hine Individual xix. 272 You're sure to feel rather depressed now your temperature's down.
1939 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xxi. 387 Wages went down and prices went up.
1952 Billboard 5 July 8/3 ‘One Man's Family’ remains quite a favorite with Atlanta listeners... Nevertheless, its ratings are down from November–December.
1976 Daily Tel. 20 July 1/4 Sales in the first half of the year were down considerably on a year earlier.
1988 R. Tisserand Aromatherapy for Everyone (1990) iii. 69 A study on the effect of hyssop oil on blood pressure found that it first went up, then down, then back to normal, almost as if the essential oil was testing out the pressure to see if it needed adjusting up or down.
1990 R. Doyle Snapper (1993) 155 He was in there by himself, watching MTV with the sound down.
2003 Canad. Geographic Mar. 44/2 Breeding numbers are down because of a late spring.
e. Having a lower score than one's opponent in a game, match, or competition; behind, losing. Frequently following a score, or specified number of goals, points, etc., indicating the extent to which one is behind, as 1–0 down, two goals down. Opposed to up adv.2 13e.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > weariness or exhaustion > [adjective]
wearyc825
asadc1306
ateyntc1325
attaintc1325
recrayed1340
methefula1350
for-wearya1375
matea1375
taintc1380
heavy1382
fortireda1400
methefula1400
afoundered?a1425
tewedc1440
travailedc1440
wearisomec1460
fatigate1471
defatigatec1487
tired1488
recreant1490
yolden?1507
fulyeit?a1513
traiked?a1513
tavert1535
wearied1538
fatigated1552
awearya1555
forwearied1562
overtired1567
spenta1568
done1575
awearied1577
stank1579
languishinga1586
bankrupt?1589
fordone1590
spent1591
overwearied1592
overworn1592
outworn1597
half-dead1601
back-broken1603
tiry1611
defatigated1612
dog-wearya1616
overweary1617
exhaust1621
worn-out1639
embossed1651
outspent1652
exhausted1667
beaten1681
bejaded1687
harassed1693
jaded1693
lassate1694
defeata1732
beat out1758
fagged1764
dog-tired1770
fessive1773
done-up1784
forjeskit1786
ramfeezled1786
done-over1789
fatigued1791
forfoughten1794
worn-up1812
dead1813
out-burnta1821
prostrate1820
dead beat1822
told out1822
bone-tireda1825
traiky1825
overfatigued1834
outwearied1837
done like (a) dinner1838
magged1839
used up1839
tuckered outc1840
drained1855
floored1857
weariful1862
wappered1868
bushed1870
bezzled1875
dead-beaten1875
down1885
tucked up1891
ready (or fit) to drop1892
buggered-up1893
ground-down1897
played1897
veal-bled1899
stove-up1901
trachled1910
ragged1912
beat up1914
done in1917
whacked1919
washy1922
pooped1928
shattered1930
punchy1932
shagged1932
shot1939
whipped1940
buggered1942
flaked (out)1942
fucked1949
sold-out1958
wiped1958
burnt out1959
wrung out1962
juiced1965
hanging1971
zonked1972
maxed1978
raddled1978
zoned1980
cream crackered1983
society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > [adverb] > down on points
down1885
1885 Glasgow Herald 24 Aug. 10/1 The Dumbarton, being one goal down, played hard, and after a lapse of 20 minutes were successful.
1894 Bristol Mercury 7 July (Weekly Suppl.) 8/2 [He] being only two points down in the tournament score, it was of the first importance to Black to win.
1907 H. H. Hilton Golfing Reminisc. 103 At the fourteenth hole he was one down.
1959 Times 28 May 4/2 He had another hard [golf] match, but was, I think, never down.
1994 I. Botham My Autobiogr. ix. 183 Compton implied that the only reason the team had been able to come back to win from 1–0 down was because there was no Botham on tour to mess things up.
2006 Church Times 7 Apr. 12/1 The sports reporter is wondering whether the team can come back from two goals down.
f. colloquial. Short of or lacking something, not at full capacity; in deficit (often by a specified amount).
ΚΠ
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 324/2 ‘Down in blunt’, lacking money.
1922 Cosmopolitan Oct. 97/1 I may be down a hundred quid but I'm up a jolly good string of pearls.
1952 H. Ellson Golden Spike xxxvi. 199 ‘Have you got anything?’ ‘I'm down and busted.’
1981 D. E. Miller Bk. Jargon (1982) 292/1 I'm down five bucks.
1992 L. Michael Under Thin Moon 33 If the till was down at the end of the day it came off Larry's pay.
2012 M. Burton Before she Dies xii. 192 I'm a couple of men down tonight. Everyone's working full tilt.
19.
a. From a roused, excited, or violent state; into or in a state of subsidence or calm.See also to come down 14 at come v. Phrasal verbs 1, to die down 1 at die v.1 Phrasal verbs, to go down 4a at go v. Phrasal verbs 1, to wind down 2 at wind v.1 Phrasal verbs.
ΚΠ
a1450 (?c1430) J. Lydgate Daunce Machabree (Huntington) (1931) l. 448 (MED) Wyndes grete gon doune with litel reyne.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 147 After that they had scaped drowning very narrowly by tempest, when the winde was downe againe, they fell into another daunger.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. iii. sig. C2v Downe fell his angry mood.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. iii. 53 If the winde were downe . View more context for this quotation
1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada i. ii. i. 18 My boyling passions settle and goe down.
1681 T. D'Urfey Progr. Honesty vii. 7 You whose insipid Palat's down,..Failing to relish.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian III. ii. 63 When the storm was down a little, Marco crept out.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere ii, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 12 Down dropt the breeze.
1814 S. Rogers Jacqueline ii. 55 To walk his troubled spirit down.
1858 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) III. xii. 4 If he would hush down the waves of heresy as he had restored peace to the waters of the Mediterranean.
1938 J. Steinbeck Long Valley 118 One of these capsules will calm him down.
1944 Marihuana Probl. in N.Y. City (Mayor's Comm. Marihuana, New York, N.Y.) i. 13 A cold shower will also have the effect of bringing the person ‘down’.
1976 Spare Rib July 11/3 Girls have to go when the surf is down to practise, or to secluded beaches.
2003 Independent (Nexis) 14 Aug. Once the adrenalin stopped pumping and the mind quietened down, I hit a bit of a low.
b. So as to possess a weaker, milder, or less pronounced quality.See also to tone down at tone v. 6b, to water down 1 at water v. Phrasal verbs.
ΚΠ
1729 Hist. Reg. No. 56. 285 The only Paragraph..that made any Allowance of Right to us,..soften'd down to something imaginary only.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 250 Time softens down things by unobserved degrees.
1832 T. P. Thompson in Westm. Rev. Apr. 288 In half a century it is very likely the Saint-Simonians will have ceased to walk abroad in their doublets and hose, and be tamed down into as harmless and beneficent a sect as the Quakers.
1951 R. A. Heinlein Let. 5 Jan. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 162 A horror story..is not improved commercially by watering it down.
2009 Private Eye 24 July 30/1 Interviewees were leaned on to tone down or withdraw their remarks.
20. To a smaller size or bulk; to minute particles; to a finer consistency.See also to boil down at boil v. 8, to go down 4b at go v. Phrasal verbs 1, to melt down 1 at melt v.1 Phrasal verbs, to thin down at thin v.1 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > [adverb]
downa1586
the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [adverb] > to a finer consistency
down1816
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella (1591) 45 When sorrow (vsing my owne Siers might) Melts downe his lead into my boyling brest.
a1651 E. Grey True Gentlewomans Delight (1653) sig. E8v Take your Chicken; and set it a boyling with a little of the neck of Mutton, and scum it well, then put in a Mace, and so let it boyle down.
1675 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 327 He..melted it [sc. New Coll. plate] downe.
1705 S. Palmer Vindic. of Dissenters v. 64 If it don't confound the Phanaticks and thin down their Meetings to the Statute Number.
1731 J. Arbuthnot Ess. Nature Aliments iii. 66 To be boil'd down with the addition of fresh Water.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 50 Ground down into dust.
1865 C. Lyell Elem. Geol. (ed. 6) 25 Wearing down into a fine powder.
1931 J. Gavorse Suetonius' Lives Twelve Caesars ii. 86 Melting down the silver statues which had been erected to him in former times.
1956 N. Coward Diary 19 Feb. (2000) 307 The play is too tightly constructed to whittle down to an hour and twenty minutes.
1971 Cumberland (Maryland) Sunday Times 31 Oct. The only true, safe, fast and effective reducer that trims down pounds and slims down the figure.
1997 I. Rankin Black & Blue (1998) xxi. 287 Rebus touched his temple. The swelling was going down.
2015 S. Crossan One 179 Dropping a cigarette on to the tiled floor and grinding it down to tobacco dust with the heel of his boot.
21. Agriculture. Of farmland: (so as to be) converted to pasture or a specified crop. Chiefly with to or in, specifying the crop.See also to lay down 13 at lay v.1 Phrasal verbs.
ΚΠ
1608 in Quarter Sessions Rec. (N. Riding Rec. Soc.) (1884) I. 122 For converting and laying down of 60 acres of arrable land into pasture.
1778 Farmer's Mag. Mar. 85 When my land is down in grass, I dress as much as I can.
1794 S. Angus in J. Granger Gen. View Agric. Durham 68 In sowing land down for grass, I have always..found rye-grass along with clover the most beneficial.
1848 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 9 ii. 524 Five fields, one of which is always down to sainfoin.
1890 Rep. Railway Grafton to Tweed 99 in Votes & Proc. Legislative Assembly New S. Wales 1890 VI Some of the land is down in vegetables.
1895 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 3rd Ser. 6 798 A worn-out clover ley, a spent sainfoin field that it would not pay to plough, arable land that has been allowed to ‘tumble down’ to grass—of such probably are the latest additions to the area of ‘permanent pasture’.
1962 J. W. Birch in J. B. Mitchell Great Brit.: Geogr. Ess. (1972) xxiv. 466 Less than 18% of the improved land is down to permanent grass.
1986 Power Farming Oct. 10/1 The farm has been down to continuous cereals for nearly 20 years.
22. With reference to cleaning: from top to bottom or end to end; thoroughly.See also to clean down at clean v. 3a, to rub down 1 at rub v.1 Phrasal verbs, to wash down at wash v. 1g.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > completely or thoroughly
welleOE
furtherlyc1175
through and through?1316
perfectlya1400
radically?a1425
roundly?a1425
substantiallya1425
perfectc1425
thoroughly1442
substantiallyc1449
throughlya1450
naitlyc1450
through1472
surely?a1475
cleanc1475
through stitch1573
fundamentally1587
down1616
perfectedly1692
minutely1796
homea1825
good1834
rotten1840
out1971
full on1979
1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) i. xxviii. 132 He shall with the edge [of a sword blade] strype and wype downe the Horse, euen from the tip of his eares to the pitch of his shoulder and cambrell.
1625 S. Bradwell Watch-man for Pest 11 Every morning and euening sweep cleane the streets before every mans doore: Wash downe the channells to keepe them sweet.
1651 C. Walker High Court of Justice 10 To make Religion but a stalking horse..and the Ministers thereof but hostlers, to rub down, curry and dresse it for their riding.
1743 H. Bracken Traveller's Pocket-farrier 36 Let your Horse be well curried, brush'd, and wip'd down with a Cloth, Morning, Noon, and Night.
?1755 T. Legg Low-life (ed. 2) vi. 27 The Servants are heating the Ovens, cleaning down the Windows, kneading of Dough, &c.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. vi. 62 Washing down the main-deck.
1886 Trans. Royal Inst. Brit. Architects 3 97 A man cleaning down the statue of Shakespeare.
1909 Chatterbox 351/2 Four Malay seamen were engaged washing down an oil tank, from which benzine had been discharged.
1982 B. MacLaverty Time to Dance (1985) 107 She wiped down the white Formica and began to load the washing machine from the laundry basket.
2013 K. J. Fowler We are all completely beside Ourselves (2014) v. vii. 256 A rhesus macaque disappeared as her cage was being hosed down.
23. Of a clock or watch (or some component or aspect of its operation): wound down; not in operation.
ΚΠ
1618 T. Adams Happines of Church ii. 35 The conscience is like the poise of a clocke: the poise being downe, all motion ceaseth, the wheeles stirre not: wound vp, all is set on going.
1760 C. Johnstone Chrysal II. i. iii. 28 She happen'd to look at her watch, but it was down.
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XV. at Fusee Let D be the point where the end of the chain is fixed on the fusee, when the clock or watch is down.
1905 J. Allan tr. J. Grossmann & H. Grossmann Lessons Horology I. iv. 212 When the spring is down, one has n′ = 12.5.
2005 Horological Times June 35/1 The spring is down and safe as illustrated in Figure 9.
24.
a. Of a telecommunications link or (in later use) an electricity, gas, etc., supply: out of use; not working.
ΚΠ
1883 Rep. Chief Signal Officer in Rep. Secretary of War (1884) IV. App. 957 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (48th Congr., 1st Sess. House of Representatives Executive Doc. 1, Pt. 2) VII The telegraph and telephone are down and trains delayed.
1946 Fortune Aug. 127/1 The first thing is to check in at the plant office, where he takes a look at the workbook, the ‘bible’, to see if any of the machines are down or if there has been any trouble on the second or midnight shift.
1962 G. L. Baldwin & N. E. Snow in Proc. AFIPS Fall Joint Computer Conf. 175/1 As far as reliability is concerned, the link has gone down, in the period February 15 through July 15, a total of about eight times.
2007 N. Rosen How to live Off-grid ii. 29 Many households might have felt it was worth installing their own back-up power for those times when the local grid was down.
2014 S. B. Williams & S. Finazzo Prepper's Workbk. v. 115 When the power fails and telephone and cell service is down, a battery powered radio..is the most reliable means of staying informed.
b. Computing.
(a) Of a computer system, network, etc.: out of action, unavailable for use. Cf. downtime n.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > [adverb] > connection status
offline1950
online1955
down1965
up1978
1965 Proc. AFIPS Conf. 27 221/1 This situation arises when the system goes down before the file system has updated its assignment tables.
1982 Times 23 Aug. 13/2 The phrase ‘the computer's down again’ is still exasperatingly familiar among data and information processors.
1986 Network World 2 June 23/1 (advt.) When your network is down, your critical applications are simply not available.
2012 A. Green & J. Humphrey Coaching for Resilience iv. 43 When you eventually get to work the computer system is down and your manager comes to you with yet another report to write by yesterday.
(b) Of the internet, a website, or internet service: not accessible; not responding.
ΚΠ
1986 Hmmmm... in net.micro.atari16 (Usenet newsgroup) 28 July Seems INTERNET is down.
2001 InfoWorld 26 Mar. 98/4 When rolling blackouts hit in January, InfoWorld's e-mail was down for the rest of that day.
2016 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 30 Oct. d1 The Cowboy Saloon Syracuse website is down, but its Facebook page remains open.
III. In elliptical uses, with main verb (as come, go, put, etc.) implied; also with with preceding a noun phrase (as object of the implied transitive verb). Cf. up adv.1 IV.In the senses in this branch, down is used only with imperative force or after auxiliary verbs. For uses of down as a true verb, see down v.1
25.
a. With ellipsis of come, go, sit, kneel, or another intransitive verb: to go or come down; to sit, kneel, or lie down; to die down. Cf. down v.1 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > move downwards [verb (intransitive)]
styc825
astyc975
alightOE
to fall adownOE
hieldc1275
downcomea1300
sink?a1300
avalec1374
to go downa1375
to come downc1380
dipc1390
descenda1393
clinea1400
declinea1400
downc1400
inclinec1400
vailc1400
fallc1440
devall1477
condescendc1485
to get down1567
lower1575
dismount1579
to fall down1632
down?1701
demount1837
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 289 Al schal doun and be ded..Þat ever I sette saule inne.
c1400 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 472 His proude clerkis schal downe wiþ ther pride.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 5868 Doune shall the castell euery dele.
1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1928) xx. 95 The warre whiche maye soone aryse And wyll not downe.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ezek. xxxii. 19 Downe..and laye the with the vncircumcised.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iv. i. 360 Downe therefore, and beg mercie of the Duke. View more context for this quotation
1636 R. Sanderson Serm. II. 53 Yet down it must, subdued it must be.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 322 Down Reason then, at least vain reasonings down . View more context for this quotation
1752 Tryal Mary Blandy 20 I must down on my Knees, and beg you will not curse me.
1830 Reg. Deb. Congr. 6 206/1 The ‘coalition’, the ghost of which he supposed had haunted the gentleman's..imagination, and, like the ghost of ‘Banquo, would never down’.
1885 R. Bridges Nero i. i. 2/2 That house of Rufus That blocks the way must down.
1924 W. M. Raine Troubled Waters xvii. 180 The rumour would not down that one of the prisoners had turned State's evidence.
1969 R. D. Pharr Bk. of Numbers (1970) xvii. 220 Of course it really wasn't a club, and Joe wasn't a business leader for real, but the facts would not down.
2014 R. A. Harrisville Pandora's Box Opened x. 302 The historical question will not down because an author..is not merely after achieving dramatic results, but after linking them to some independent reality.
b. Used as a command to a dog to lie down.
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1825 La Belle Assemblée Mar. 107/2 It would have been sure to excite the attention of Mrs. Montague, who would have checked him with, ‘down Fido!’
1847 F. Marryat Children of New Forest I. iii. 43 Down, Smoker, good dog!
1893 A. Bates Bundle of Time 358 She caught them by their collars and flung them backward. ‘Down, Prince! Down, Rover, down! Down, I say! Home with you, home!’
1912 Country Gentleman 2 Nov. 6/2 The verbal commands that the dog should learn in the yard are: ‘Heel’ or ‘Back’, ‘Down’ or ‘Drop’, ‘Come in’ or ‘Come here’, [etc.].
2001 J. Boyle Galloway Street 159 Ah'm gonnae train ye to do tricks. Sit, I say to him. Go on, down boy!
c. Used as a command or warning to sit, lie, or duck down.
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1882 Hist. Daviess County Missouri xxii. 505 A tall man in the rear of the coach suddenly arose and ordered ‘everybody down!’ The sharp command was emphasized by a ringing shot from a large revolver.
1938 Foreign Service Feb. 7/1 The boyish lieutenant in charge of your attack wave makes a funnel of his hands. Shouts: ‘Down! Hit the ground!’
2015 J. Axler End Day 125 ‘Down!’ she shouted. Then she rolled off her chair to the right.
26. With with preceding a noun phrase (as object of the implied transitive verb).
a. down with —— !: used (esp. in slogans or chants by crowds in political contexts) to express a desire to overthrow or eradicate a specified person or thing.
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1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms cxxxvi[i]. 7 Downe with it, downe with it, euen to the grounde.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxiv Then a sergeaunt of Armes called Nycholas dounes, whiche was there with master Moore, entreatynge them, beynge sore hurt, in a fury cryed doune with them.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. i. 2 Shrinke not, but down with 'em. View more context for this quotation
1680 J. Dryden Kind Keeper iv. i. 40 Down with the Suburbians, down with 'em.
1714 C. Hornby Eng. Advice to Freeholders 24 When they are down, then Moderation and Equality are the Cry; but when they have the secular Power on their Side, Down with Presbytery, down with Whiggery.
1764 K. O'Hara Midas i. 4 I say, down with him, Jove—exert your puissance.
1820 P. B. Shelley Œdipus Tyrannus i. 23 Long live Iona! down with Swellfoot!
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 748/1 Down with the shams of a false-hearted society.
1922 N. Coward Down with Whole Darn Lot in Compl. Lyrics (1998) 38/2 Down with the working man! We'll starve his wives and sisters.
1953 G. Willans (title) Down with Skool!
1993 Los Angeles Times 19 June b7/3 Slogans such as ‘Down with religion’, ‘There's no Christ’ and ‘Devil is the Power’.
2015 New Yorker 10 Mar. 31/1 No more kings! Down with fat cats! Damn the moneycrats!
b. Following a modal verb or (now chiefly) as a command: to put, pull, or take (something) down; to be done with. Now rare.See also down with the dust at dust n.1 6, down with the helm at helm n.2 1c.
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?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors xix. sig. E8 Ye must fyrst downe with all your vayne chantrys, all your prowd colledgys of canons, and specyally your forkyd wolffys the bysshoppes.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xii. f. cxiiiiv I will downe with myne olde barnes.
1557 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandrie sig. C.iiiv At midsommer, downe with thy brimbles and brakes: and after abrode, with thy forkes and thy rakes.
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxxiv. 223 As soon as ever you perceive it near up to perfect ripeness, you must down with it, that is, pull it as you doe Flax up by the roots.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais Pantagruel's Voy.: 4th Bk. Wks. xxiii. 97 Down with your Sails.
1732 T. Fuller Gnomologia 242 When a Tree is once a falling, every one cries, down with it.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1780 II. 320 The prisoners were in consternation and tumult, calling out, ‘We shall be burnt—we shall be burnt! down with the gate—down with the gate!’
1866 S. W. Baker Albert N'Yanza (1867) I. iii. 119 ‘Down with your guns this moment,’ I shouted, ‘sons of dogs!’
1882 Tit-bits 25 Feb. 11/3 ‘Never mind what you will—down with your sack.’ And the officer pulled the sack from the butcher's shoulder.
1958 ‘A. Pearson’ Whipping Club iii. 49 Down with your trousers, Bill. Ten of the best.
†27. With ellipsis of go: (of food or drink) to be swallowed or consumed; to go down the throat; (figurative) to find acceptance (with a person); to be pleasing or agreeable. Also (with ellipsis of a transitive verb): to swallow, consume. Cf. to go down 6 at go v. Phrasal verbs 1. Obsolete.
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1579 J. Merbecke Holie Hist. King Dauid 18 Whose hart did bleede his friends estate and danger to conceiue, No meate could downe, and therupon he rose & tooke his leaue.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 41 There was no broth that would down but of hir making.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. To Rdr. sig. ij Nothyng wyll downe with them but Frenche, Italian, or Spanishe.
a1625 J. Fletcher Monsieur Thomas (1639) iii. i. sig. G1 Which will down easily without apple-pap.
1693 J. Locke Some Thoughts conc. Educ. §14.14 If he be hungry more than wanton, Bread alone will down.
1709 J. Swift Baucis & Philemon 8 Plain Goody would no longer down, 'Twas Madam in her Grogram Gown.
28. With ellipsis of put or another transitive verb: to put (something) down, to lower. Cf. down v.1 3.See also down helm at helm n.2 1c.
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1823 Ld. Byron Blues in Liberal 2 No. 3. 18 And down Aristotle!
1860 H. Stuart Novice's or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 6 What is the necessary precaution at the word ‘down oars’?
1940 Life 11 Nov. 54/2 Then the captain bellowed, ‘Down periscope..Down 60 feet.’
2014 J. Flanagan Slaves of Socorro 187 ‘Down oars,’ Stig ordered, and the other seven rowers lowered their oar blades.
IV. Slang uses.
†29. slang (originally and chiefly British). Aware of or possessing knowledge about something, esp. illicit or criminal activity; alert; suspicious. Also with to, specifying what one has knowledge or suspicions about. Cf. downy adj.3, down n.4 2a. Obsolete.See also to be down on at Phrases 3a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > attention > notice, observation > [adjective] > alert
warec1000
erect1544
present1548
prick-eared?1550
open-eyed1565
erecteda1586
wakened1609
arrect1646
alerta1728
downc1770
wide awake1785
brighta1819
noticing1820
featy1844
undreamy1848
yary1855
c1770 Humourist: Choice Coll. Songs 2/1 Let your Pal that follows behind, Tip your Bulk pretty soon; And to slap his Whip in Time, For fear the Cull should be down.
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 285 He supposed he was down (had knowledge of it).
1818 London Guide & Stranger's Safeguard 137 She carried the same guileful..arts to her new house. We never went to the latter, being already down to the hoax.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 168 Down, sometimes synonymous with awake, as when the party you are about to rob, sees or suspects your intention, it is then said that the cove is down.
1826 Sporting Mag. Feb. 283/1 Bob became as down as a hammer to this advantage.
1850 F. E. Smedley Frank Fairlegh iv. 32 You're down to every move, I see, as usual.
1926 K. S. Prichard Working Bullocks viii. 82 ‘Peter's down to it, Red,’ Duck Hayes said quietly.
30. slang (originally and chiefly U.S.). Eager, ready, willing. Usually in to be down for (something).Cf. to be up for (up adv.2 10e).
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1952 H. Ellson Golden Spike ii. 15 ‘Are you still down for it?’ ‘I'm down for it.’
1978 H. Selby Requiem for Dream 16 Lets go where theres some life. Whatta ya say? Hey baby, Im down.
1993 B. Cross It's not about Salary 266 Coalition-building? We're down for it.
2013 C. Lauren Beautiful Player 274 Even if she just wanted to curl up and sleep, I'd be completely down for that.
31. slang (originally and chiefly U.S., esp. in African-American usage). Smart, well-informed, hip; up-to-date, stylish, cool.See also to be down with (a person or thing) at Phrases 9.
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1967 W. Redfield Lett. from Actor i. 38 Brando laughed. ‘See what I mean?’ he said. ‘That cat is down.’
1971 D. Wells & S. Dance Night People viii. 95 Children a couple of years old can talk more mess than I would have dreamed of when I was ten. Talk about being down!
1989 Rolling Stone 19 Oct. 54/2 The whites want to be down... They want an insight on black culture.
2011 P. Evans Negropedia 73 She's just cluelessly trying too hard to be down.

Phrases

P1.
down yonder adv. (a) down there; down at or to a particular place (now archaic and regional); (b) spec. (U.S.) in or into the States south of the Mason–Dixon line; = down South adv.
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1615 E. Hoby Curry-combe i. 3 Now if you bee kinde gentlemen, let vs sit downe yonder, vpon Pennylesse Bench.
1735 J. Ozell tr. L. J. C. S. d'Allainval L'embaras des Richesses: Plague of Riches ii. 113 A Lawyer named Briareus, who lives down yonder, leading to the Beggars-Hospital.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. i. 13 In the methodist chapel down yonder, where they are in the thick of a revival.
1922 H. Creamer & J. T. Layton ’Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (sheet music) 3 'Way down yonder in New Orleans In the land of dreamy scenes.
1944 D. Burley Orig. Handbk. Harlem Jive 133 A big Northern city where lines of color are not so pronounced as down yonder.
1992 C. McCarthy All Pretty Horses (1993) i. 43 We can cross right down yonder off of that shoal.
2013 A. M. Howell Raised up down Yonder vi. 145 We're not all country..and you know talk like ‘down yonder’.
P2. to kick (also hit, etc.) a man when he is down and variants: to cause further harm or upset to someone who is already suffering or in a difficult situation. Frequently in negative contexts.
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1784 Monthly Rev. Aug. 145 Is it not somewhat ungenerous to insult the fallen, and to strike a man when he is down?
1830 Mechanics' Mag. 3 Apr. 78/1 Mr. Gilman acknowledges himself ashamed... Had he contented himself with only doing that, I should have been satisfied.., for..I would never kick a man when he is down.
1874 Locke's National Monthly Aug. 345/1 ‘Lish,’ he said reproachfully, ‘don't hit a feller when he's down.’
1912 Sunday at Home 1911–12 622/2 Trust them goodens to hit a gal when she's down.
1946 N. Coward Diary 22 Dec. (2000) 72 A subconscious urge on her part to kick me good and proud when I was down.
1983 M. Glenny tr. Y. Trifonov Another Life 116 She had to bite her tongue..because he really was in trouble and you don't hit a man when he's down.
2018 Daily Mirror (Nexis) 25 Mar. 27 I won't kick a man when he's down. I hope he gets the help he needs.
P3. to be down on (also upon).
†a. British slang. To be aware of, to understand. See sense 29. Obsolete.
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1792 J. Pearson Polit. Dict. 29 Egad, the Baronet was down upon it.
1811 Sporting Mag. 37 76 Was down upon him, and clearly up to his gossip.
1839 G. Almar Oliver Twist i. ix. 29 Fag. (To Dodger.) Take Oliver on the prowl and try him. You are down on what I mean, Dodger? Dod. Down as a hammer!
1865 G. F. Berkeley My Life & Recoll. II. iv. 103 I'm down on it all; the monkey never bit your dog.
b. To come down on (a person); to fall upon; to assail, esp. with criticism or reprimands.
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1811 W. Scott Let. Sept. (1932) II. 543 The Edinburgh reviewers have been down on my poor Don Roderick, hand to fist.
1845 G. P. R. James Arrah Neil I. vi. 123 We were out from the alders in a minute, and down upon them.
1885 E. Lynn Linton Autobiogr. Christopher Kirkland II. vi. 196 The critics would have been down on the author as an absurd bungler.
1930 ‘H. Z. Smith’ Not so Quiet iii. 73 You've got to toe the plimsoll or you'll throw the line out of gear, and Commandant will be down on you.
1976 D. Kearns Lyndon Johnson & Amer. Dream x. 291 I knew that the moment we said out loud that this or that program was a failure, then the wolves who never wanted us to be successful in the first place would be down upon us at once.
2015 M. Styles Summer of Viking iii. 44 Any whisper and Lord Edwin could be down on them, demanding to know why this man wasn't dead.
c. colloquial (chiefly U.S.). To be opposed to; to show or express disapproval of.
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1825 H. Wilson Eng. Society in Brussels iii. 27 Yet people will be down upon him, he Came here, the folks say, for œconomy.
1851 Alta California (San Francisco) 5 Aug. 2/3 Here the factory girls appear to be ‘down’ on the style.
1854 Daily Calif. Chron. 26 Sept. To refuse payment of the trifling bills of a few journals who had latterly perhaps been down on them.
1902 W. James Varieties Relig. Experience xiv. 335 Some persons..glory in saying that they are ‘down’ on religion altogether.
1931 V. Palmer Separate Lives 111 ‘They're down on her for some reason or other,’ he told himself. ‘Angry, most likely, because she's hung on to her boy.’
1970 R. Thorp & R. Blake Music of their Laughter 15/2 You know, they're down on it. They don't really dig it at all.
2013 A. Gibbons Raining Fire ii. 28 Mum took care of herself. And us. Why was I so down on her?
P4. to be down to.
a. To be reduced or limited to (a specified amount or thing); to be decreased in size, quantity, or amount to.
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1808 Scots Mag. Apr. 295/2 Flour is down to two dollars 25 cents. the barrel.
1853 N.-Y. Daily Times 2 Aug. 8/4 The Madison and Indianapolis Railroad shares are down to 85.
1915 G. W. Let. in New Fun 24 Apr. 15/3 My waist is down to 17 inches and my hips are getting abnormal for a male.
1970 ‘O. John’ Diamond Dress iii. 39 Part of the autostrada is down to single line traffic... Road repairs.
1983 R. Brown Voy. of Iceberg 110 Their weight is down to fifty pounds and a pup that's all skin and grief is no use to anyone.
2018 @SoapMcT07 29 Apr. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Yer boi here is giving up smoking, normally 20 a day and I'm currently down to 3.
b. To be left with only (a specified amount or thing).
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1914 Sat. Evening Post 4 Apr. 11/1 A gay-cat..will turn against a friend when that friend is down to tomato cans.
1947 D. Thomas Let. 11 July (1987) 652 We are down to our last ten pounds, & the British Council will give me none.
1991 C. Fremlin Dangerous Thoughts xxiii. 145 I'm down to my last Temazepam! Just one left, I shan't get a wink of sleep with only one.
2010 L. Freeman in M. Engelhard Cold Flashes 53 Her husband went to Eagle for supplies. They were down to beans and pancake mix.
c. Chiefly British. To be attributable to. Cf. to put down 5b at put v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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1955 Times 5 Aug. 11/5 Wattam said: ‘It's down to me, the stamps and postal orders belong to me. They are nothing to do with the wife. I've done all the jobs.’
1962 R. Cook Crust on its Uppers i. 24 Obscurely it's all down to Mum, who certainly does..seem to have dragged him up a bit strange.
1983 Financial Times 24 Nov. 26/6 His good humour may be down to the fact that he is among the many hundreds of publicans..who could qualify for a share of a £5m windfall.
1985 Sunday Tel. 26 May 11/6 The boom in Gucci and Pucci and..Lacoste ‘names’ on clothes, bags and other ornamentation is all down to the Yuppies.
2007 Hello! 17 July 103/2 A large part of the show's success has been down to the decision to put viewers centre-stage.
d. Chiefly British. To be the responsibility of, to be incumbent upon. Cf. up to ——, up adv.2 19d.
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1970 P. Laurie Scotl. Yard 289 Down to:..X is down to Y = X is Y's responsibility.
1986 City Limits 16 Oct. 41 The clothes are by Jean-Paul Gaultier, the basslines are by Blackmon, and the dancing is down to you.
2004 G. Woodward I'll go to Bed at Noon xiv. 263 Then they'll have to evict him, but they won't do it on their own, it'll be down to me to push them through the courts and sort it out.
P5.
a.
down below adv. euphemistic in the genital region.
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?1837 Cuckold's Nest 14 To tell you, sweet Kate, I am not ashamed, When you fell, I saw you'd got a mouth down below, And if you'd let me fill it, you'd banish my woe.
1910 H. Ellis Stud. Psychol. Sex (ed. 3) I. 53 Women..have absolutely no name for the vulva.., but speak of it as ‘down below’, ‘low down’, etc.
1982 T. G. Duncan Over 55 165 Itching ‘down below’, a common warning signal [of diabetes].
2002 Createonline Nov. 32/1 With the popularity of baggy trousers, it can be next to impossible to figure out whether a fella's got a Tiny Tim or a Notorious B.I.G. down below.
b.
down there adv. euphemistic in the genital region.
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1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xiv. 242 She'd clutch clutch with herself down there, an' then she'd come off, fair in ecstasy.
1963 Public Opinion Q. 27 291 How old were you when hair first began to grow down there?
1994 L. de Bernières Capt. Corelli's Mandolin xxi. 137 If you shave him, you know, down there, it'll get rid of any crab lice.
P6. U.S. colloquial. to be down in the (also one's) back (also arms, legs, etc.): to be in poor health; esp. to be suffering from pain in the specified part of the body.
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1907 H. B. Wright Shepherd of Hills i. 17 Pap he's down in th' back now, an' ain't right peart.
1940 Amer. Speech 15 447/1 Ill or in poor health. ‘I'm down in the middles’.
1954 Harder Coll. in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1991) II. 164/1 Down in (his) back (legs, arms, kidneys, etc.) Weak (in some part of the body).
1978 E. G. Massey Bittersweet Country 206 My father has been down in his back all week.
2018 @nitrodanielle 12 Feb. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Hes [sic] so down in his back neighbor had to come help him off the couch.
P7. one (two, etc.) down, one (two, etc.) to go and variants: used to express progress through a series of items or tasks with a specified number completed or dealt with, and a specified number remaining; cf. go v. 9c.In early use often with reference to defeating or bringing down a series of opponents (cf. senses 2d, 17a).
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1920 Independent (N.Y.) 6 Mar. 346/2 (cartoon caption) One down—one to go. John Bull [in boxing ring, to Labour Extremist]: All the time I've been fighting Fritz you've been threatening me. Now come on!
1925 Washington Post 21 Aug. 15/6 (advt.) One down, two to go! Our three-day sale..is already making a quick clean-up.
1947 A. P. Cage Nothingness of War i. 32 ‘Two Down and One to Go.’ Mussolini had been reported shot to death... Hitler had fled... Hirohito..trembled.
1970 Times 18 Nov. 11/7 Two years down, one to go.
1997 K. Denton Wedding Escapade xi. 174 Five different companies, one-day sessions each. Four down, one to go.
2018 Sc. Sun (Nexis) 9 Apr. 15 The manager has set us a target of winning our last five games...That's one victory down so only four more to go.
P8. U.S. down cold: memorized or mastered perfectly. Often in to have (also to get) (something) down cold: to learn or master (a subject, skill, etc.) perfectly; to be able to recite or perform readily and faultlessly from memory.Cf. to have (a story, routine, etc.) (off, down) pat at pat adv.1 and adj. Phrases 1.
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1932 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 23 Jan. 2/5 I made my young visitor promise..that he would set about getting world geography down cold.
1967 Independent (Pasadena, Calif.) 21 Mar. 6/1 I've never been able to get that sweeping entrance down cold.
1993 L. Chunovic Chris-in-the-Morning 51 It's to be expected that Chris..is a little hazy on algebra, but you can bet he's got the Superstring Theory down cold.
2014 M. Copeland Life in Motion 31 I was determined that the team would have the steps down cold.
P9. colloquial (chiefly U.S.) (originally in African-American usage). to be down with (a person or thing): to support, go along with, or approve of someone or something; (also) to be knowledgeable or well-informed about someone or something.
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1944 D. Burley Orig. Handbk. Harlem Jive ii. 15 I'm with it... I'm down with the action to my own satisfaction. Do you dig?
1955 Down Beat 5 Oct. 51 I don't know who the singer is, 'cause I'm not down with all the singers now.
1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens iv. 131 He..ended his presentation with, ‘No matter what I say, you guys gonna vote for the fellas you down with.’
1993 Newsweek (Nexis) 26 July (Arts section) 46 I'm down with them. I've been working with them since I was 14.
2012 Vanity Fair July 95/1 One might think Stewart would be down with the package-oriented ways of the entertainment business, since she's a homegrown Hollywood product.
P10. to get down to: see to get down 2b at get v. Phrasal verbs 1; down to the ground: see ground n. 8b; down by the head: see head n.1 Phrases 1d; down in the hip: see hip n.1 Phrases 4; down on the knuckle-bone: see knuckle-bone n. 1; down on one's luck: see luck n. Phrases 5c; down in the mouth: see mouth n. Phrases 3c; down to the nitty-gritty: see nitty-gritty n.; down by the stern: see stern n.3 2b; down on one's uppers: see upper n.1 1b; down to the wire: see wire n.1 12.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

downprep.

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Forms: see down adv.
Etymology: < down adv. Compare adown prep.
1.
a. Further along the length or course of (something); (also) along the length of (something). See also up and down prep. 1.With reference to linear movement or extent, without implication of descent (cf. sense 2).
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Psalms cvi. 23 That gon doun the se in shipis.
a1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess (Tanner 346) (1871) l. 444 Forþ þei romed riȝt wonder fast Doun þe wode.
c1557 R. Woodman in J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (1583) II. 1985 So I tooke downe a lane that was ful of sharpe synders, and they came running after, with a great crie.
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 50 Flowers of a purple or violet colour,..with a white hairie welt downe the middle.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 94 A worm which has a red head, a streak down the back, and a broad tail.
1674 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation i. 42 Some Hares will goe up one side of the Hedge, and come down the other.
1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World ii. 27 He weigh'd, and fell down the harbour.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho IV. x. 202 Presently, he sees him come slowly down the avenue.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 176 A steady north breeze..prevails all down this coast from the Straits.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany ii. 18 Down the middle [of the room] were two..tables.
1931 Daily Express 28 Apr. 11/4 The ball was centred, and the eleven men, playing a phantom team, swept down the pitch to the unguarded goal.
1954 Atlantic Aug. 35/1 The auction porters ate their dinners off thick white plates brought over by a cross-eyed teaboy from a café down the road.
2014 T. McCulloch Stillman 193 I feel like my teenage self, embarrassed to be walking down the street with my father.
b. spec. Further along the course of (a river or stream); at or to the part of (a river or stream) that is nearer the sea.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 4786 I saghe chafe on þe water flete..bot doun þe water hit come gode spede.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin (1899) xviii. 282 Than will we go down this ryver at the spore.
1596 W. Raleigh Discoverie Guiana (new ed.) 62 He told me that himselfe and his people with all those downe the riuer towardes the sea, as farre as Emeria, the Prouince of Carapana, were of Guiana.
1633 W. Watts Swedish Intelligencer: 3rd & 4th Pts. iv. 116 Before his going, he sends to the Imperiall towne of Brunswick; 7 English miles downe the same river of Onacre.
1677 E. Browne Acct. Trav. Germany 42 The Lutherans have also a Church within the Walls, and the Calvinists at Mulheim, half a League down the Stream on the other side of the Rhine.
1748 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 4) I. 226 Three Miles down the River, are the Ruins.
1760 London Evening-post 22 Nov. In the Waters of Almond and Esk, several Cattle came swimming down the Stream.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) II. 229 In the timbered parts of France, down the Loire.
1889 Musical Times July 393/1 We have never heard anything more impressive than..the sound of the Dorchester bells as one rows down the Thames.
1936 E. H. Warmington in A. P. Newton & E. A. Benians Cambr. Hist. Brit. Empire VIII. iii. 59 Alexander, by sailing down the Indus to its mouths in 325 b.c., exploded for ever the idea that there was a connection between the Indus and the Nile.
2010 J. Al-Khalili Pathfinders (2012) ii. 30 One cannot help but compare al-Mansūr's Round City with the US-controlled Green Zone..just a few miles down the river.
2. In a descending direction through, along, or into; from the top to bottom of; from a higher to a lower part of. Also: at the bottom or lower part of. See also up and down prep. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [preposition] > in a downward direction upon
anovenonOE
adownwardc1275
adowna1350
downc1425
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 1098 (MED) Doun þe playn, boþe in lengþe & brede, þe wardis gan proudly to avale.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 203 Weltryng and walowynge they rolled doune the hylle.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 51 Let us go downe this Hill into the Citie.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. i. 57 Vntill it had returnd, These termes of treason doubled downe his throat. View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 41 Such notes as..Drew Iron tears down Pluto's cheek.
1682 Heraclitus Ridens 13 June 2/2 I heard sometimes a deep hollow grumble, like the noise of a stone ratling down a Well.
1743 J. Bulkeley & J. Cummins Voy. to South-seas 145 Down his Sides, and all the Belly Part, is white Wool.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. xxvi. 94 Susannah had but just time to make her escape down the back stairs.
1764 Eng. Illustr. I. 90 In crofts farther down the hill, this black soil serves as wintering for horned cattle.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge lix. 278 He..sent the wine gurgling down his throat.
1895 Manch. Guardian 14 Oct. 5/6 The workmen have to be lowered by ropes down the face of the cliff.
1911 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 237/2 A small girl..carrying a blue-striped pitcher, full of sour milk, which dripped down the sides of the vessel at every step.
1949 E. Bowen Heat of Day xi. 210 He shut the door behind him, crept down the stairs—no lover's exit could have been more discreet.
1970 Mt. Airy (N. Carolina) News 24 Apr. 1 The young man fell backward down the well onto the hard concrete below.
2013 D. Goulson Sting in Tale (2016) v. 58 A buff-tailed bumblebee nest which was down a hole near the edge of a meadow.
3. Throughout the course of (a period of time). Cf. down adv. 18b.
ΚΠ
1691 T. Heyrick Misc. Poems 4 Wheresoer'e the Name of Manners flies..As down the Ages it doth pass along, You'l be the Subject of their Gratefull song.
1787 A. Yearsley Poems Var. Subj. 61 Exulting rapture, strain'd to painful thought, Yet is not thine, else would thy gentle soul O'erstretch Olympus, pant to catch the flame Which lights him down the ages.
1861 J. R. Lowell in Atlantic Monthly Nov. 641 The echoes..Like Odin's hounds, fled baying down the night.
1878 G. Dawson Serm. Disputed Points xv. 260 Shouting down the ages, ‘We did miracles!’
1962 R. Bradbury Something Wicked this Way Comes xxxviii. 214 September comes again and old October and so on down the years, with no winter, spring, or revivifying summer.
2003 FRoots July 28/2 The dancers and musicians who have maintained the tradition down the centuries.
4. colloquial (chiefly British, Australian, and New Zealand) and U.S. regional. At or to (a place, usually a familiar one, at a moderate distance from the point of reference). Cf. up prep.2 6c, down adv. 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > in the direction of [preposition] > down at or to
down1883
1883 Forest & Stream 4 Oct. 185/3 I was down the Park, twelve to fifteen miles west of here, for a couple of days in the past week.
1899 C. Rook Hooligan Nights xx. 258 Five more splits met me jest at the right time down Clapham Common.
1911 I. A. Rosenblum Stella Sothern vi. 32 I'll just see if she is down the bail-yard.
1968 Melody Maker 30 Mar. 24/3 He just heard the news about Scotch and fags going up, went deathly white and rushed down the pub waving fivers.
1985 D. McGill G'Day Country 159 Young women down the back of the bus were talking about guys putting the hard word on them.
2018 @mrcod72 2 Mar. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) In 4 hours time I will be smashing it down the gym. Then 2 hours afterwards I will be smashing it down the pub.

Phrases

P1. Irish English, North American, and English regional (Liverpool) colloquial. to give (a person) down the banks and variants: to turn on (a person) angrily; to berate or admonish (someone) in a vehement and vociferous manner; to reprimand or scold.In quot. 1845 with impersonal subject. [Apparently showing bank n.1, although the motivation for the formation of the phrase is unclear.]
ΚΠ
1845 London Jrnl. 18 Oct. 94/3 'Twas a grate loss to the woman o' this house whin..a bad season or two night walkin'..turned the landlord's countenance against 'em, and gave 'em down the banks in no time.
1854 Spirit of Times 14 Jan. 570/1 Let them look out that we don't ‘give 'em down the banks’!
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xxvii. 280 He give me down the banks for not coming and telling him.
1917 M. B. Pearse Murphys of Ballystack ix. 125 ‘He gave me “down the banks” all the way home to-night.’ The Major stared. ‘I mean,’ exclaimed Barney, ‘he abused me so much that I didn't know whether I was standing on my head or heels.’
1968 Irish Times 11 May 12/1 A goodly hunk of the invited guests will be sitting with well-distinguished impatience listening to Mr. Cosgrave give it down the banks to Mr. Lynch and his party.
2001 K. Sampson Outlaws (2002) 185 I'm there in the lobby with the others, aren't I, giving this poor cunt of a night porter down the banks.
P2. U.S. regional (southern) colloquial. to give (a person) down the country (also road): to show one's displeasure towards (someone); to berate or admonish in a vehement and vociferous manner; to reprimand or scold. [Perhaps arising from the idea of being banished or sent away for bad behaviour; perhaps compare to give (a person) down the banks at Phrases 1.]
ΚΠ
1892 Thomasville (Georgia) Times-Enterprise 30 Apr. 1/8 Let us woo these misguided ones back into the democratic party, but give the men who have deceived them down the country.
1919 Sat. Evening Post 13 Dec. 122/1 Hack listened with a smile. ‘By golly!’ he croaked excitedly. ‘Ain't she giving him down the country?’
1948 J. Hewlett Harlem Story xiii. 67 What are you giving me down the country for? I did my part. At least I tried to, anyway.
1974 D. Madden Bijou ii. 251 I really gave him down the road, that made me so mad.
1987 E. Kytle Voices of Robby Wilde (1989) xii. 117 He'd give me down the country and call me ungrateful every time I wasn't there right on the dot.
2010 J. Gordon Lord of Misrule (2011) xxvi. 188 Arnie Posner, personally, gives me down the road. I ain't thinking of the big picture. I gotta listen to people what are bigger than me.
P3. Horse Racing. down the course: (of a horse) some distance behind the leaders in a race.
ΚΠ
1896 Sporting Times 14 Nov. 5/3 In the concluding event, the Grassendale Mile Plate, Amandier, who won the race twelve months ago, finished ‘down the course’ this time.
1920 A. E. W. Mason Summons xx. 202 All our horses were down the course... They weren't running in their form at all.
1947 W. G. Bebbington Rogues Go Racing xiii. 72 Time after time ‘dead-certs’ finished down the course, and the crowds often demonstrated against the jockeys involved, thinking they had deliberately given the race away by bad riding.
1993 Irish Times 14 Jan. 18/6 Roc De Prince, a former Thyestes winner, finished down the course.
P4. Originally U.S. colloquial. down the road (also track): further on in time; esp. in the future.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > different time > [adverb] > at some future time or one day
yeteOE
hereafter1154
hereafterwardc1386
sometimec1386
oncea1393
whiloma1400
rather or latera1450
one of these daysa1470
one day1477
umquhile1489
in timea1500
with time?1531
sooner or later1577
odd shortly1681
some summer's day1697
first or last1700
some of these (‥) days1831
someday1898
down the road (also track)1924
1924 Glenwood (Iowa) Opinion 5 Mar. (Special Farm Bureau ed.) Men of pioneer souls, men with vision, men who could see fifty years down the road.
1964 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 17 Nov. (1970) 204 It was a sad good-by for all of us. But one good thing, we know we'll always be seeing each other down the road.
1979 Arizona Daily Star 22 July i. 1/4 My dream is that sometime down the road we'll have students from all the nations of the world in this really non-political, non-sectarian framework.
1984 R. T. Golembiewski in R. T. Golembiewski & A. Wildavsky Costs of Federalism xviii. 291 What might well be on my mind some years down the track.
1999 KMT Winter 3/1 But it still surprises me that, ten years down the road, even some Egyptologists still persist in calling the publication ‘Kay Em Tee’.
2005 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 15 Oct. 17/1 Now, five years down the track, he has his first major crop.
2015 Swimming Times Apr. 6/3 The plan is to stay in the US right now, but down the road, who knows where it will take us?
P5. colloquial (originally Australian and New Zealand). to send (a person) down the road (also track) and variants: to dismiss (someone) from employment; to send (a person) away from a workplace. Similarly to go down the road (also track) and variants: to be dismissed from employment, to be sent away.
ΚΠ
1932 Austral. Worker 12 Oct. 15/4 Men who are not financial members of the A.W.U. will be sent ‘down the road’.
1952 J. A. Thomson Deer Hunter 21 Any [workers] that don't pull their weight on the open range..are not long in going down the track.
1973 D. Wallace Generation Gap 194 For Gawd's sake, boss, get him [sc. a violent camp cook] down the track fast. It can't be too fast for us.
1979 J. Hurling Boomers 2 We don't do anything half-assed here. It's got to be the best or you'll be going down the road where you came from.
2007 M. Lewycka Two Caravans 142 Listen, yer bloody Polish big girl's blouse, next time I get any lip from you, it's down the road.
P6. down the cludgie: see cludgie n.; down the gurgler: see gurgler n.; down the hatch: see hatch n.1 5d; down memory lane: see memory lane n. at memory n. Compounds 2; down the pan: see pan n.1 Phrases 3; down the rabbit hole: see rabbit hole n. 2; down the rathole: see rathole n. 1c; down the red lane: see red lane n. at red adj. and n. Compounds 1f(c)(i); down the toilet: see toilet n. Phrases 2a; down the tube(s): see tube n. 2l.

Compounds

C1. Combining with nouns or the and noun, to form adverbs and attributive adjectives, as down-coast, down-the-block, down-valley, etc.See also downhill adv., downriver adj., downstage adv., downstream adv., down the line adv., downtown adv., down-wind at wind n.1 19a, etc.
ΚΠ
1645 S. Rutherford Tryal & Triumph of Faith xxiii. 261 Heaven is down-ground, when Faith seeth it, it is (when sight faileth us) toylesome and up the mount.
1859 G. A. Sala Twice round Clock 191 A knot of medical students, who should properly..have a racing and ‘down-the-road’ look.
1892 Royal Comm. Labour: Digest of Evid. before Group B II. 139 in Parl. Papers (C. 6795–II) XXXVI: Pt. iii. 197 Men engaged on canal boats on their return journey to Liverpool from Leeds..are said to be engaged on the back passage or down lock.
1914 J. L. Rich in Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 22 476 The tendency of the meanders to sweep down-valley leads to more active erosion on the down-valley sides of the meander bends.
1962 National Geographic Apr. 561/1 (caption) Two scow-bowed boats on the beach, together with two 18-footers, made the down-rapids run because they could haul more supplies.
1999 Time Out N.Y. 25 Feb. 40/3 Like its down-the-block parent, Le Tableau, this bistro meshes inventive food and fair prices with a bustling dining room.
2009 Vanity Fair Apr. 184/2 With the French warship trailing close behind, the Ponant moved deeply down-coast through Somali waters.
C2.
down cellar adv. U.S. regional (chiefly north-eastern) in or into the cellar or basement.
ΚΠ
1787 Worcester Mag. Sept. 306/2 The owner of the house ran in, and intreated all to go down cellar while it [sc. a whirlwind] passed.
1855 ‘Q. K. P. Doesticks’ Doesticks, what he Says x. 84 A patent medicine palace, with a..conservatory down cellar.
1947 E. Paul Linden on Saugus Branch 131 I rushed down-cellar to get our lantern.
1999 N.-L. Patterson Tramp Room v. 41 Baskets and baskets of apples, already put down cellar, fragrant as wine.
downcourt adv. Sport (esp. Basketball) to or into the opposite end of the court.
ΚΠ
1904 P. A. Vaile Mod. Lawn Tennis 19 You should stand practically at right angles to the net if the ball be coming straight down court.
1970 P. Axthelm City Game vi. 77 Frazier was stealing, whipping the ball downcourt, running the offense.
2017 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 3 Jan. d1 Austin Rivers turned the ball over to Bledsoe, whose long pass downcourt resulted in an easy basket.
downsun adv. and adj. [after down-wind at wind n.1 19a] originally U.S.A.F. (situated or occurring) in the direction away from the sun; with one's back to the sun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adjective] > having direction away from sun
downsun1943
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adverb] > in direction away from sun
downsun1943
1943 Air Force Mar. 4 Just as we arrived at the motor transport concentration we were to bomb, five or six more tiny blue dots appeared overhead and down sun from us... Two of the down-sun party detached themselves and made a feint after the tail men of Borax as they were bombing.
1969 New Yorker 19 Apr. 76/3 Some of the Surveyor photographs that were taken away from the sun—or ‘downsun’, as Schmitt calls it—were washed out by it.
1989 Air Forces Monthly Feb. 54/3 When the sun is a factor, the pass should be forced on the downsun side.
2011 M. Arthur Last of Few iv. 173 At one point we turned back down-sun to find we were only nine strong.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

downint.

Brit. /daʊn/, U.S. /daʊn/
Forms: 1500s–1600s downe, 1500s– down.
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps an arbitrary formation. Perhaps formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: down adv.
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps an arbitrary formation. Perhaps < down adv.Usually reduplicated or as part of longer combinations (as e.g. hey down , hey down derry , etc.: compare hey int., derry int.) primarily intended to replicate the rhythm of the song's tune or instrumental accompaniment. It is possible that the form arose in such combinations arbitrarily (compare e.g. fa-la n.1, folderol n., nonny-nonny int., etc.), although it has alternatively been suggested that it may originate from use of down adv. in instructions for associated dance movements. Earlier currency is implied by dillydown n. Compare later down n.3
Used in songs as part of a refrain or other sequence of rhythmically sung syllables. Cf. down n.3
ΚΠ
?1520 J. Rastell Nature .iiii. Element sig. E.viii Downe downe downe &c.
c1565 R. Copland Seuen Sorowes Women Prol. sig. A.iv Haue ye the balade called maugh murre Or bony wenche, or els go from my durre Col to me, or hey downe dery dery Or a my hert, or I pray you be mery.
1566 L. Wager Life & Repentaunce Marie Magdalene sig. A.iiiv With heigh down down and downe a down a, Saluator mundi Domine, Kyrieleyson, Ite Missa est, with pipe vp Alleluya.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. v. 171 You shall sing a downe, And you a downe a.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) i. iv. 40 I doubt he be not well, that hee comes not home:..and downe, downe, adowne'a. &c.
?1650 Robin Hood & Bishop (single sheet) Come Gentlemen all, and listen a while, hey down, down an a down.
1653 Mercurius Democritus No. 81. 633 Rufty tufty, hey down derry, a black Girl hath no fellow.
?1758 Bacchanalian (ed. 2) 2 Sing hey diddle, ho diddle, hey diddle down, Oh! when shall we see such a wedding in town.
1839 T. Hood Compass in Hood's Own 246/1 Down, down, a dreary derry down.
1865 Home Thoughts & Home Scenes 1 With a wild sweet cry of pleasure, And a ‘Hey down derry, let's be merry, little girl and boy!’
1934 I. Gershwin Spring Fever in Compl. Lyrics (1993) 223/2 There's a crazy, lackadaisy sort of feeling in the town—Makes you sing, ‘Ding a derry, Ding a derry, derry down’.
2003 J. T. Hospital Last Magician (new ed.) 202 With a down, hey down, hey down. There were five children played in a pool, with a down, derry down, down down.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

> see also

also refers to : down-prefix
<
n.1OEn.21345n.31611n.41647n.51961n.61978adj.1580v.11581v.21602adv.OEprep.a1382int.?1520
see also
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