Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Down \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.

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

Down \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.

Down \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.

Down \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.

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

Down \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.

Down \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.

Source : WordNet®

down
     n 1: soft fine feathers [syn: {down feather}]
     2: (American football) a complete play to advance the football;
        "you have 4 downs to gain 10 yards"
     3: English physician who first described Down's syndrome
        (1828-1896) [syn: {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) [syn: {pile}]

down
     adv 1: 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" [syn: {downwards},
             {downward}, {downwardly}] [ant: {up}, {up}, {up}, {up}]
     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" [ant: {up}]
     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" [ant: {up}]
     6: in an inactive or inoperative state; "the factory went down
        during the strike"; "the computer went down again"

down
     v 1: drink down entirely; "He downed three martinis before
          dinner"; "She killed a bottle of brandy that night";
          "They popped a few beer after work" [syn: {toss off}, {pop},
           {bolt down}, {belt down}, {pour down}, {drink down}, {kill}]
     2: eat immoderately; "Some people can down a pound of meat in
        the course of one meal" [syn: {devour}, {consume}, {go
        through}]
     3: bring down or defeat (an opponent)
     4: shoot at and force to come down; "the enemy landed several
        of our aircraft" [syn: {shoot down}, {land}]
     5: 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" [syn: {knock
        down}, {cut down}, {push down}, {pull down}]
     6: improve or perfect by pruning or polishing; "refine one's
        style of writing" [syn: {polish}, {refine}, {fine-tune}]

down
     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" [ant: {up}]
     2: becoming progressively lower; "the down trend in the real
        estate market" [syn: {down(a)}]
     3: understood perfectly; "had his algebra problems down" [syn:
        {down pat(p)}, {mastered}]
     4: extending or moving from a higher to a lower place; "the
        down staircase"; "the downward course of the stream" [syn:
         {down(a)}, {downward(a)}]
     5: out; "two down in the last of the ninth" [syn: {down(p)}]
     6: lower than previously; "the market is depressed"; "prices
        are down" [syn: {depressed}, {down(p)}]
     7: shut; "the shades were down"
     8: cut down; "the tree is down" [syn: {cut}, {cut down}]
     9: not functioning (temporarily or permanently); "we can't work
        because the computer is down"
     10: low in spirits; "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" [syn: {blue},
          {depressed}, {dispirited}, {down(p)}, {downcast}, {downhearted},
          {down in the mouth}, {low}, {low-spirited}]
     11: the fractional price paid in cash at time of purchase; "the
         down payment"; "a payment of $200 down"

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

down
     
        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}]
     
        (1994-12-07)