down

I. adverb Etymology: Middle English doun, from Old English dūne, short for adūne, of dūne, from a- (from of), of off, from + dūne, dative of dūn hill Date: before 12th century 1. a. (1) toward or in a lower physical position (2) to a lying or sitting position (3) toward or to the ground, floor, or bottom b. as a down payment <

paid $10 down

> c. on paper <

put down what he says

> 2. in a direction that is the opposite of up: as a. southward b. to or toward a point away from the speaker or the speaker's point of reference c. in or into the stomach <

can't keep food down

> 3. to a lesser degree, level, or rate <

cool down tensions

> 4. to or toward a lower position in a series 5. a. to or in a lower or worse condition or status b. — used to indicate thoroughness or completion <

dusted down the house

> <

described him down to his haircut

> 6. from a past time <

stories passed down by word of mouth

> 7. to or in a state of less activity or prominence 8. to a concentrated state <

got the report down to three pages

> 9. into defeat <

voted the motion down

> II. preposition Date: 14th century down along, around, through, toward, in, into, or on <

fell down the stairs

> <

down the years

> III. verb Date: 1562 transitive verb 1. to cause to go or come down: as a. bring down 1 <

downed the enemy helicopter

> b. consume 3 <

downing slices of pizza

> 2. to cause (a football) to be out of play 3. defeat <

down a proposal

> intransitive verb to go down IV. adjective Date: circa 1565 1. a. (1) occupying a low position; specifically lying on the ground <

down timber

> (2) directed or going downward <

attendance is down

> b. lower in price c. not being in play in football because of wholly stopped progress or because the officials stop the play <

the ball was down

> d. defeated or trailing an opponent (as in points scored) <

down by two runs

> e. baseball out <

two down in the top of the third inning

> 2. a. reduced or low in activity, frequency, or intensity <

a down economy

> b. not operating or able to function <

the computer is down

> c. depressed, dejected <

feeling a bit down

>; also depressing <

a down movie

> d. sick <

down with flu

> 3. done, finished <

eight down and two to go

> 4. completely mastered <

had her lines down

> — often used with pat <

got the answers down pat

> 5. a. slang cool 7 b. slang understanding or supportive of something or someone — usually used with with <

trying to prove that they were down with hip-hop culture — J. E. White

> 6. being on record <

you're down for two tickets

> V. noun Date: 1710 1. descent, depression 2. an instance of putting down 3. a. a complete play to advance the ball in football b. one of a series of four attempts in American football or three attempts in Canadian football to advance the ball 10 yards 4. chiefly British dislike, grudge 5. downer 6. a fundamental quark that has an electric charge of - 1/3 and that is one of the constituents of a nucleon VI. noun Etymology: Middle English doun hill, from Old English dūn Date: 14th century 1. an undulating usually treeless upland with sparse soil — usually used in plural 2. often capitalized a sheep of any breed originating in the downs of southern England VII. noun Etymology: Middle English doun, from Old Norse dūnn Date: 14th century 1. a covering of soft fluffy feathers; also these feathers 2. something soft and fluffy like down