Definition: down
Source: WordNet (r) 1.7
down
adj 1: being or moving lower in position or less in some value;
"lay face down"; "the moon is down"; "our team is down
by a run"; "down by a pawn"; "the stock market is down
today" [ant: up]
2: extending or moving from a higher to a lower place; "the
down staircase"; "the downward course of the stream" [syn:
down, downward]
3: becoming progressively lower; "steadily declining incomes";
"the down trend in the real estate market" [syn: declining,
down]
4: out; "two down in the last of the ninth" [syn: down]
5: understood perfectly; "had his algebra problems down" [syn:
down pat, mastered]
6: lower than previously; "the market is depressed"; "prices
are down" [syn: depressed, down]
7: shut; "the shades were down"
8: cut down; "the tree is down" [syn: cut, cut down]
9: not functioning (temporarily or permanently); "we can't work
because the computer is down"
10: low in spirits; "lonely and blue in a strange city";
"depressed by the loss of his job"; "a dispirited and
resigned expression on her face"; "downcast after his
defeat"; "feeling discouraged and downhearted" [syn: blue,
depressed, dispirited, down, downcast, downhearted,
down in the mouth, low, low-spirited]
11: the fractional price paid in cash at time of purchase; "the
down payment"; "a payment of $200 down"
n 1: soft fine feathers [syn: down feather]
2: a complete play to advance the football; "you have 4 downs
to gain 10 yards"
3: English physician who first described Down's syndrome
(1828-1896) [syn: Down, John L. H. Down]
4: (usually plural) a rolling treeless highland with little
soil
adv 1: spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level
or position; "don't fall down"; "rode the lift up and
skied down"; "prices plunged downward" [syn: downwards,
downward, downwardly] [ant: up, up, up, up]
2: away from a more central or a more northerly place; "was
sent down to work at the regional office"; "worked down on
the farm"; "came down for the wedding"; "flew down to
Florida" [ant: up]
3: paid in cash at time of purchase; "put ten dollars down on
the necklace"
4: from an earlier time; "the story was passed down from father
to son"
5: to a lower intensity; "he slowly phased down the light until
the stage was completely black" [ant: up]
6: in an inactive or inoperative state; "the factory went down
during the strike"; "the computer went down again"
v 1: drink down entirely; "He downed three martinis before
dinner"; "She killed a bottle of brandy that night"
[syn: toss off, bolt down, belt down, pour down,
drink down, kill]
2: eat immoderately; "Some people can down a pound of meat in
the course of one meal" [syn: devour, consume, go
through]
3: bring down or defeat, in sports
4: shoot at and force to come down; of aircraft [syn: shoot
down, land]
5: cause to come or go down; "The policeman downed the heavily
armed suspect"; "The mugger knocked down the old lady
after she refused to hand over her wallet" [syn: knock
down, cut down, push down, pull down]
6: improve or perfect by pruning or polishing; "refine one's
style of writing" [syn: polish, refine, fine-tune]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Down \Down\, adv. [For older adown, AS. ad?n, ad?ne, prop., from or off the hill. See 3d Down, and cf. Adown, and cf. Adown.] 1. In the direction of gravity or toward the center of the earth; toward or in a lower place or position; below; -- the opposite of up. 2. Hence, in many derived uses, as: (a) From a higher to a lower position, literally or figuratively; in a descending direction; from the top of an ascent; from an upright position; to the ground or floor; to or into a lower or an inferior condition; as, into a state of humility, disgrace, misery, and the like; into a state of rest; -- used with verbs indicating motion. It will be rain to-night. Let it come down. --Shak. I sit me down beside the hazel grove. --Tennyson. And that drags down his life. --Tennyson. There is not a more melancholy object in the learned world than a man who has written himself down. --Addison. The French . . . shone down [i. e., outshone] the English. --Shak. (b) In a low or the lowest position, literally or figuratively; at the bottom of a decent; below the horizon; of the ground; in a condition of humility, dejection, misery, and the like; in a state of quiet. I was down and out of breath. --Shak. The moon is down; I have not heard the clock. --Shak. He that is down needs fear no fall. --Bunyan. 3. From a remoter or higher antiquity. Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. --D. Webster. 4. From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence; as, to boil down in cookery, or in making decoctions. --Arbuthnot. Note: Down is sometimes used elliptically, standing for go down, come down, tear down, take down, put down, haul down, pay down, and the like, especially in command or exclamation. Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke. --Shak. If he be hungry more than wanton, bread alone will down. --Locke. Down is also used intensively; as, to be loaded down; to fall down; to hang down; to drop down; to pay down. The temple of Her[`e] at Argos was burnt down. --Jowett (Thucyd. ). Down, as well as up, is sometimes used in a conventional sense; as, down East. Persons in London say down to Scotland, etc., and those in the provinces, up to London. --Stormonth. Down helm (Naut.), an order to the helmsman to put the helm to leeward. Down on or upon (joined with a verb indicating motion, as go, come, pounce), to attack, implying the idea of threatening power. Come down upon us with a mighty power. --Shak. Down with, take down, throw down, put down; -- used in energetic command. ``Down with the palace; fire it.'' --Dryden. To be down on, to dislike and treat harshly. [Slang, U.S.] To cry down. See under Cry, v. t. To cut down. See under Cut, v. t. Up and down, with rising and falling motion; to and fro; hither and thither; everywhere. ``Let them wander up and down.'' --Ps. lix. 15.
Down \Down\, v. t. To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down. [R.] --Young.
Down \Down\, n. [OE. dun, doun, AS. d?n; of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. d?n hill, fortified hill, Gael. dun heap, hillock, hill, W. din a fortified hill or mount; akin to E. town. See Town, and cf. Down, adv. & prep., Dune.] 1. A bank or rounded hillock of sand thrown up by the wind along or near the shore; a flattish-topped hill; -- usually in the plural. Hills afford prospects, as they must needs acknowledge who have been on the downs of Sussex. --Ray. She went by dale, and she went by down. --Tennyson. 2. A tract of poor, sandy, undulating or hilly land near the sea, covered with fine turf which serves chiefly for the grazing of sheep; -- usually in the plural. [Eng.] Seven thousand broad-tailed sheep grazed on his downs. --Sandys. 3. pl. A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war. On the 11th [June, 1771] we run up the channel . . . at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the Downs, and went ashore at Deal. --Cook (First Voyage). 4. pl. [From the adverb.] A state of depression; low state; abasement. [Colloq.] It the downs of life too much outnumber the ups. --M. Arnold.
Down \Down\, prep. [From Down, adv.]
1. In a descending direction along; from a higher to a lower
place upon or within; at a lower place in or on; as, down
a hill; down a well.
2. Hence: Towards the mouth of a river; towards the sea; as,
to sail or swim down a stream; to sail down the sound.
Down the country, toward the sea, or toward the part where
rivers discharge their waters into the ocean.
Down the sound, in the direction of the ebbing tide; toward
the sea.
Down \Down\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Downed; p. pr. & vb. n. Downing.] To cause to go down; to make descend; to put down; to overthrow, as in wrestling; hence, to subdue; to bring down. [Archaic or Colloq.] ``To down proud hearts.'' --Sir P. Sidney. I remember how you downed Beauclerk and Hamilton, the wits, once at our house. --Madame D'Arblay.
Down \Down\, v. i. To go down; to descend. --Locke.
Down \Down\, a.
1. Downcast; as, a down look. [R.]
2. Downright; absolute; positive; as, a down denial. [Obs.]
--Beau. & Fl.
3. Downward; going down; sloping; as, a down stroke; a down
grade; a down train on a railway.
Down draught, a downward draft, as in a flue, chimney,
shaft of a mine, etc.
Down in the mouth, chopfallen; dejected.
Down \Down\, n. [Akin to LG. dune, dun, Icel. d?nn, Sw. dun,
Dan. duun, G. daune, cf. D. dons; perh. akin to E. dust.]
1. Fine, soft, hairy outgrowth from the skin or surface of
animals or plants, not matted and fleecy like wool; esp.:
(a) (Zo["o]l.) The soft under feathers of birds. They have
short stems with soft rachis and bards and long
threadlike barbules, without hooklets.
(b) (Bot.) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or
envelope of the seeds of certain plants, as of the
thistle.
(c) The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.
And the first down begins to shade his face.
--Dryden.
2. That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which
affords ease and repose, like a bed of down
When in the down I sink my head, Sleep, Death's twin
brother, times my breath. --Tennyson.
Thou bosom softness, down of all my cares!
--Southern.
Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10)
down 1. Not operating. "The up escalator is down" is considered a humorous thing to say, and "The elevator is down" always means "The elevator isn't working" and never refers to what floor the elevator is on. With respect to computers, this term has passed into the mainstream; the extension to other kinds of machine is still hackish. 2. "go down" To stop functioning; usually said of the system. The message from the console that every hacker hates to hear from the operator is "System going down in 5 minutes". 3. "take down", "bring down" To deactivate purposely, usually for repair work or PM. "I'm taking the system down to work on that bug in the tape drive." Occasionally one hears the word "down" by itself used as a verb in this sense. See crash; opposite: up. [Jargon File] (1994-12-07)
Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)
down 1. adj. Not operating. "The up escalator is down" is considered a humorous thing to say (unless of course you were expecting to use it), and "The elevator is down" always means "The elevator isn't working" and never refers to what floor the elevator is on. With respect to computers, this term has passed into the mainstream; the extension to other kinds of machine is still confined to techies (e.g. boiler mechanics may speak of a boiler being down). 2. `go down' vi. To stop functioning; usually said of the system. The message from the console that every hacker hates to hear from the operator is "System going down in 5 minutes". 3. `take down', `bring down' vt. To deactivate purposely, usually for repair work or PM. "I'm taking the system down to work on that bug in the tape drive." Occasionally one hears the word `down' by itself used as a verb in this vt. sense. See crash; oppose up.
