down

down¹

/down/, adv.

1. from higher to lower; in descending direction or order; toward, into, or in a lower position: to come down the ladder.

2. on or to the ground, floor, or bottom: He fell down.

3. to or in a sitting or lying position.

4. to or in a position, area, or district considered lower, esp. from a geographical or cartographic standpoint, as to the south, a business district, etc.: We drove from San Francisco down to Los Angeles.

5. to or at a lower value or rate.

6. to a lesser pitch or volume: Turn down the radio.

7. in or to a calmer, less active, or less prominent state: The wind died down.

8. from an earlier to a later time: from the 17th century down to the present.

9. from a greater to a lesser strength, amount, etc.: to water down liquor.

10. in an attitude of earnest application: to get down to work.

11. on paper or in a book: Write down the address.

12. in cash at the time of purchase; at once: We paid $50 down and $20 a month.

13. to the point of defeat, submission, inactivity, etc.: They shouted down the opposition.

14. in or into a fixed or supine position: They tied down the struggling animal.

15. to the source or actual position: The dogs tracked down the bear.

16. into a condition of ill health: He's come down with a cold.

17. in or into a lower status or condition: kept down by lack of education.

18. Naut. toward the lee side, so as to turn a vessel to windward: Put the helm down!

19. Slang. on toast (as used in ordering a sandwich at a lunch counter or restaurant): Give me a tuna down.

20. down with!

a. away with! cease!: Down with tyranny!

b. on or toward the ground or into a lower position: Down with your rifles!

prep.

21. in a descending or more remote direction or place on, over, or along: They ran off down the street.

adj.

22. downward; going or directed downward: the down escalator.

23. being at a low position or on the ground, floor, or bottom.

24. toward the south, a business district, etc.

25. associated with or serving traffic, transportation, or the like, directed toward the south, a business district, etc.: the down platform.

26. downcast; depressed; dejected: You seem very down today.

27. ailing, esp., sick and bedridden: He's been down with a bad cold.

28. being the portion of the full price, as of an article bought on the installment plan, that is paid at the time of purchase or delivery: a payment of $200 down.

29. Football. (of the ball) not in play.

30. behind an opponent or opponents in points, games, etc.: The team won the pennant despite having been down three games in the final week of play.

31. Baseball. out.

32. losing or having lost the amount indicated, esp. at gambling: After an hour at poker, he was down $10.

33. having placed one's bet: Are you down for the fourth race?

34. finished, done, considered, or taken care of: five down and one to go.

35. out of order: The computer has been down all day.

36. down and out, down-and-out.

37. down cold or pat, mastered or learned perfectly: Another hour of studying and I'll have the math lesson down cold.

38. down in the mouth, discouraged; depressed; sad.

39. down on, Informal. hostile or averse to: Why are you so down on sports?

n.

40. a downward movement; descent.

41. a turn for the worse; reverse: The business cycle experienced a sudden down.

42. Football.

a. one of a series of four plays during which a team must advance the ball at least 10 yd. (9 m) to keep possession of it.

b. the declaring of the ball as down or out of play, or the play immediately preceding this.

43. Slang. an order of toast at a lunch counter or restaurant.

44. Slang. downer (defs. 1a, b).

v.t.

45. to put, knock, or throw down; subdue: He downed his opponent in the third round.

46. to drink down, esp. quickly or in one gulp: to down a tankard of ale.

47. Informal. to defeat in a game or contest: The Mets downed the Dodgers in today's game.

48. to cause to fall from a height, esp. by shooting: Antiaircraft guns downed ten bombers.

v.i.

49. to go down; fall.

interj.

50. (used as a command to a dog to stop attacking, to stop jumping on someone, to get off a couch or chair, etc.): Down, Rover!

51. (used as a command or warning to duck, take cover, or the like): Down! They're starting to shoot!

[bef. 1100; ME doune, OE dune, aph. var. of adune for of dune off (the) hill; see A-², DOWN³]

down²

—downless, adj. —downlike, adj.

/down/, n.

1. the soft, first plumage of many young birds.

2. the soft under plumage of birds as distinct from the contour feathers.

3. the under plumage of some birds, as geese and ducks, used for filling in quilts, clothing, etc., chiefly for warmth.

4. a growth of soft, fine hair or the like.

5. Bot.

a. a fine, soft pubescence on plants and some fruits.

b. the light, feathery pappus or coma on seeds by which they are borne on the wind, as on the dandelion and thistle.

adj.

6. filled with down: a down jacket.

[1325-75; ME downe < ON dunn]

down³

/down/, n.

1. Often, downs. (used esp. in southern England) open, rolling, upland country with fairly smooth slopes usually covered with grass.

2. (cap.) any sheep of several breeds, raised originally in the downs of southern England, as the Southdown, Suffolk, etc.

3. Archaic. a hill, esp. a sand hill or dune.

[bef. 1000; ME; OE dun hill; c. D duin DUNE; not related to Ir, OIr dún (see TOWN)]

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I

District (pop., 1999 est.: 63,800), Northern Ireland.

Formerly part of County Down, it was established as a district in 1973. It fronts Strangford Lough and the Irish Sea. Extreme southern and western Down is mountainous; the dome-shaped Mourne Mountains reach an elevation of 2,789 ft (850 m). Down is a rich agricultural district; livestock raising is important. Down was settled in prehistoric times. It was where St. Patrick began his mission in Ireland (AD 432), and his well and bathhouses are preserved near the district seat, Downpatrick. In Tudor times, parts of Down were colonized by English and Scottish adventurers.

II

(as used in expressions)

Down syndrome

North Down

Downing Andrew Jackson

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▪ district, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Irish  An Dún 

 district, Northern Ireland. Formerly within County Down, Down was established in 1973 as a district on Northern Ireland's eastern coast, fronting Strangford Lough (inlet of the sea) and the Irish Sea. It is bordered by the districts of Ards to the north; Castlereagh, Lisburn, and Banbridge to the west; and Newry and Mourne to the south. Extreme southern and western Down is mountainous; the dome-shaped Mourne Mountains (see photograph—>) reach an elevation of 2,789 feet (850 metres) at Slieve Donard on the Down–Newry and Mourne border. Most of the district is covered by clusters of drumlins (drumlin) (oval mounds of glacial till). The area was invaded by the Anglo-Norman John de Courci (Courci, John de) in the late 12th century, and the town of Downpatrick was his stronghold until 1203. The Downpatrick (Protestant) Cathedral is reputedly built over the burial site of St. Patrick (Patrick, Saint), who began his mission in Ireland (AD 432) in the nearby village of Saul.

      Down is a rich agricultural district; the chief crops are oats, barley, wheat, and hay. Livestock raising (sheep and pigs) is also important. Downpatrick is the district's market and administrative seat and has some textile industry, while Ballynahinch, located farther west, has agricultural machinery and metal-fabrication industries. Newcastle in the south and Killyleagh in the east are popular seaside resorts. Tollymore Forest Park, about 1,200 acres (500 hectares) of forest on the slopes of the Mourne Mountains in southern Down, was the first such park established in Northern Ireland (1955). Area 249 square miles (646 square km). Pop. (2004 est.) 66,759.

▪ former county, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

 former (until 1973) county, eastern Northern Ireland. It was bounded by Belfast Lough (inlet of the sea; north), the Irish Sea (east), Carlingford Lough (south), former County Armagh (west), and former County Antrim (northwest).

      Down had an area of 952 square miles (2,466 square km), and it had three areas of high ground. In the south are the Mourne Mountains (Slieve Donard, 2,789 feet [850 metres]), composed of Eocene (38,000,000-year-old) granite; and in the centre are the Caledonian granite mountains of Ballynahinch (Slieve Croob, 1,755 feet). The land falls westward to the Newry Basin and the River Bann and eastward to the Ards Peninsula, enclosing Strangford Lough (inlet of the sea), a large tidal inlet. A belt of glacially deposited ovoid hills (drumlins) extend westward from former central County Down. The basic geology is Silurian (Silurian Period), with much slate and sandstone. The climate is temperate, rainfall varying from 65 inches (1,650 mm) a year in the Mournes to less than 35 inches in the east and north. Although soils of the southern slopes in the north are very fertile, a shallow stony loam predominates.

 Evidence of prehistoric settlement is found in the Giant's Ring, south of Belfast. There a cromlech, or circle of stones, stands enclosed by a broad rampart; and near Newcastle there is a well-preserved souterrain, or underground chamber. At Saul, St. Patrick (Patrick, Saint) began his mission in Ireland (AD 432), and a monastic school flourished at Bangor from the 6th century. The saint's well and bath houses are preserved at Struell near Downpatrick, and a boulder marks his reputed grave in the grounds of Downpatrick Cathedral. Dromore is the ancient ecclesiastical capital of Down. In the late 12th century, Down was invaded by the Anglo-Norman John de Courci (Courci, John de); many of the mounds forming the bases of his forts remain. Numerous castles fringe the eastern part of the county (e.g., a Norman castle of Dundrum and Jordan's Castle at Ardglass). Although English influence declined in the late Middle Ages, it lingered on the peninsula of Lecale, between Dundrum and Downpatrick. In later Tudor times, parts of Down were colonized by English and Scottish adventurers; and, though the county was not included in the Plantation of Ulster scheme during the reign of James I, there was a large influx of Scottish colonists in the 17th century. In the 1973 administrative reorganization of Northern Ireland, the county was divided into the districts of Banbridge, Down, Ards, and North Down, and portions of Castlereagh, Lisburn, Craigavon, and Newry and Mourne districts.

 

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