(n.) Fine, soft, hairy outgrowth from the skin or surface of
animals or plants, not matted and fleecy like wool
(n.) The soft under feathers of birds. They have short stems with
soft rachis and bards and long threadlike barbules, without hooklets.
(n.) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the
seeds of certain plants, as of the thistle.
(n.) The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.
(n.) That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which
affords ease and repose, like a bed of down
(v. t.) To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.
(prep.) 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.
(prep.) 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.
(prep.) A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of
Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war.
(prep.) A state of depression; low state; abasement.
(adv.) 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.
(adv.) 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.
(adv.) 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.
(adv.) From a remoter or higher antiquity.
(adv.) 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.
(adv.) 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.
(adv.) Hence: Towards the mouth of a river; towards the sea; as,
to sail or swim down a stream; to sail down the sound.
(v. t.) To cause to go down; to make descend; to put down; to
overthrow, as in wrestling; hence, to subdue; to bring down.
(v. i.) To go down; to descend.
(a.) Downcast; as, a down look.
(a.) Downright; absolute; positive; as, a down denial.
(a.) Downward; going down; sloping; as, a down stroke; a down
grade; a down train on a railway.
