1. [n]  a complete play to advance the football; "you have 4 downs to gain 10 yards"
2. [n]  soft fine feathers
3. [n]  (usually plural) a rolling treeless highland with little soil
4. [n]  English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896)
5. [adv]  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"
6. [adv]  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"
7. [adv]  paid in cash at time of purchase; "put ten dollars down on the necklace"
8. [adv]  in an inactive or inoperative state; "the factory went down during the strike"; "the computer went down again"
9. [adv]  to a lower intensity; "he slowly phased down the light until the stage was completely black"
10. [adv]  from an earlier time; "the story was passed down from father to son"
11. [adj]  the fractional price paid in cash at time of purchase; "the down payment"; "a payment of $200 down"
12. [adj]  not functioning (temporarily or permanently); "we can't work because the computer is down"
13. [adj]  cut down; "the tree is down"
14. [adj]  shut; "the shades were down"
15. [adj]  understood perfectly; "had his algebra problems down"
16. [adj]  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"
17. [v]  improve or perfect by pruning or polishing; "refine one's style of writing"
18. [v]  bring down or defeat, in sports
19. [v]  eat immoderately; "Some people can down a pound of meat in the course of one meal"
20. [v]  drink down entirely; "He downed three martinis before dinner"; "She killed a bottle of brandy that night"
21. [v]  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"
22. [v]  shoot at and force to come down; of aircraft

1. \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.
   {Down tree} (Bot.), a tree of Central America ({Ochroma
      Lagopus}), the seeds of which are enveloped in vegetable
      wool.
   

2. \Down\, v. t.
   To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down. [R.] --Young.
   

3. \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.
   

4. \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.
   

5. \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.
   

6. \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.
   

7. \Down\, v. i.
   To go down; to descend. --Locke.
   

8. \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.
   

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]