adverb

down

DOWN

adverb

From a higher place to a lower one.

"She climbed down the ladder carefully."

"Put the box down over there."

preposition

Along or through, moving in a particular direction.

"They walked down the street together."

adjective

Feeling sad or low in spirits.

"He's been feeling down since he lost his job."

Not functioning; out of service, especially of a computer system.

"The website has been down all morning."

verb

To swallow or finish, especially a drink, quickly.

"He downed his coffee in one go."

noun

Soft, fine feathers, especially from young birds, used to fill pillows and jackets.

"The jacket is filled with goose down."

How to Use Down

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishOne of English's most flexible small words — covering direction, sadness, system outages, drinking fast, and soft feathers.

Common pairings

feeling down down for maintenance down a drink down feathers

Word Forms

further down comparative, farther down comparative, more down comparative, downed past tense, downed past tense, downs plural, downs plural, downs plural, downs singular, downs singular, furthest down superlative, farthest down superlative, most down superlative

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Can you complete this real example?

She climbed _____ the ladder carefully.

Etymology

From Old English dūne, a shortened form of ofdūne, literally "off the hill" — combining of ("off") with dūn ("hill").

Antonyms

up across back backwards rearwards

Related Words

increase back decrease augment obsolete front across up

Rhymes for down

own town gown sown brown blown flown grown known crown frown clown

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up across back backwards rearwards increase decrease augment obsolete front