n.

1. soft fine feathers;
   down feather
2. (American football) a complete play to advance the football
   
   • you have four downs to gain ten yards
3. English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896);
   Down, John L. H. Down
4. (usually plural) a rolling treeless highland with little soil
5. fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs);
   pile

v.

1. drink down entirely;
   toss off, pop, bolt down, belt down, pour down, drink down, kill
   
   • He downed three martinis before dinner
   • She killed a bottle of brandy that night
   • They popped a few beer after work
2. eat immoderately;
   devour, consume, go through
   
   • Some people can down a pound of meat in the course of one meal
3. bring down or defeat (an opponent)
4. shoot at and force to come down;
   shoot down, land
   
   • the enemy landed several of our aircraft
5. cause to come or go down;
   knock down, cut down, push down, pull down
   
   • The policeman downed the heavily armed suspect
   • The mugger knocked down the old lady after she refused to hand over her wallet
6. improve or perfect by pruning or polishing;
   polish, refine, fine-tune
   
   • refine one's style of writing

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
2. becoming progressively lower;
   down(a)
   
   • the down trend in the real estate market
3. understood perfectly;
   down pat(p), mastered
   
   • had his algebra problems down
4. extending or moving from a higher to a lower place;
   down(a), downward(a)
   
   • the down staircase
   • the downward course of the stream
5. being put out by a strikeout;
   down(p)
   
   • two down in the bottom of the ninth
6. lower than previously;
   depressed, down(p)
   
   • the market is depressed
   • prices are down
7. shut
   
   • the shades were down
8. not functioning (temporarily or permanently)
   
   • we can't work because the computer is down
9. low in spirits;
   blue, depressed, dispirited, down(p), downcast, downhearted, down in the mouth, low, low-spirited
   
   • 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

adv.

1. spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level or position;
   downwards, downward, downwardly
   
   • don't fall down
   • rode the lift up and skied down
   • prices plunged downward
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
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
6. in an inactive or inoperative state
   
   • the factory went down during the strike
   • the computer went down again