let down1
(Of an aircraft or a pilot) descend prior to making a landing: over the harbour, I started to let down...
- Within the hour, we were letting down for a landing at Casablanca on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.
- It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and I was letting down over the Adriatic heading southward.
See parent entry: let
let-down2
/ˈlɛtdaʊn
/noun
1A disappointment: the election was a bit of a let-down...
- I think the team should be cautious of a let-down after such a disappointing seeding.
- It's like having a conjuring trick explained, interesting and a bit of a let-down: there is no magic, you find, only great skill and infinite care.
- It was a bit of a let-down that the game on the Saturday was called off because I was really up for that, but they have promised to watch me at the start of next season.
Synonyms
disappointment, disillusionment, anticlimax, comedown, non-success, non-event, fiasco, setback, frustration, blow
informal washout, damp squib
2 [mass noun] The release of milk in a nursing mother or lactating animal as a reflex response to suckling or massage: in order to aid let-down do not feed at this time...
- When the baby touches the breast a hormone called oxytocin is released, beginning a process known as milk let-down or ejection reflex.
- It is known that oxytocin is important for milk let-down, but its physiologic release is pulsatile in nature.
3 Aeronautics The descent of an aircraft or spacecraft prior to landing: you might well commence a let-down miles away...
- The rest of the flight, except for the extremely gentle let-down, was normal.