Meaning & use
down
Last updated
Meanings
adverb
Toward or in a lower position, level, or place; moving from a higher to a lower point.
Grammar: Used without an object, often after verbs of movement: sit down, go down. It can also show position: She is down in the basement.
Patterns
- go down
- come down
- sit down
- look down
Please sit down and make yourself comfortable.
The temperature went down sharply last night.
She looked down at her shoes and said nothing.
preposition
From a higher point to a lower point along or through something.
Grammar: Followed by a noun: down the stairs, down the river. It shows movement along a path.
Patterns
- down the stairs
- down the street
- down the river
He ran down the stairs to answer the door.
We walked down the street to the corner store.
The boat floated down the river slowly.
adjectivenot comparableinformal
Feeling sad, unhappy, or depressed.
Grammar: Used after a linking verb: I feel down. It is not usually used before a noun.
Patterns
- feel down
- be down
He's been feeling a bit down since his team lost.
Don't be down about it; you did your best.
verbtransitiveinformal
To drink something quickly, especially in one gulp.
Grammar: Takes an object: down a drink. Often used informally.
Patterns
- down a drink
- down something
He downed his coffee and rushed out the door.
She downed the glass of water in one go.
Word forms
| third person singular | downs |
|---|---|
| past tense | downed |
| past participle | downed |
| -ing form | downing |
Common combinations
- calm down
- Calm down and tell me what happened.
- slow down
- You need to slow down before you make a mistake.
- write down
- Write down the address so you don't forget it.
- upside down
- The picture was hanging upside down.
- down the road
- The school is just down the road from here.
Synonyms and how they differ
- downward
- More formal and often used in writing; down is more common in everyday speech and after verbs like go or come.
- below
- Shows a lower position but not movement; down often suggests movement from a higher place.
Opposites
Word family
- downward adverb
- Toward a lower place or level.
- downstairs adverb
- On or to a lower floor of a building.
Commonly confused: down or dawn?
down vs dawn
Dawn is the time when the sun rises; down means toward a lower place. They sound similar but have completely different meanings.
Practice
Choose the correct word to complete the sentence: 'Please sit ___ and wait for the doctor.'
Choose one answer.
'Sit down' is the common phrase for moving from standing to sitting. 'Sit up' means to straighten your back, and 'sit off' and 'sit over' are not natural phrases here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “down”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.