Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Downward \Down"ward\, Downwards \Down"wards\, adv. [AS.
   ad?nweard. See {Down}, adv., and {-ward}.]
   1. From a higher place to a lower; in a descending course;
      as, to tend, move, roll, look, or take root, downward or
      downwards. ``Looking downwards.'' --Pope.

            Their heads they downward bent.       --Drayton.

   2. From a higher to a lower condition; toward misery,
      humility, disgrace, or ruin.

            And downward fell into a groveling swine. --Milton.

   3. From a remote time; from an ancestor or predecessor; from
      one to another in a descending line.

            A ring the county wears, That downward hath
            descended in his house, From son to son, some four
            or five descents.                     --Shak.

Downward \Down"ward\, a.
   1. Moving or extending from a higher to a lower place;
      tending toward the earth or its center, or toward a lower
      level; declivous.

            With downward force That drove the sand along he
            took his way.                         --Dryden.

   2. Descending from a head, origin, or source; as, a downward
      line of descent.

   3. Tending to a lower condition or state; depressed;
      dejected; as, downward thoughts. --Sir P. Sidney.

Source : WordNet®

downward
     adj 1: on or toward a surface regarded as a base; "he lay face
            downward"; "the downward pull of gravity" [syn: {downward(ip)}]
     2: extending or moving from a higher to a lower place; "the
        down staircase"; "the downward course of the stream" [syn:
         {down(a)}, {downward(a)}]

downward
     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" [syn: {down}, {downwards},
            {downwardly}] [ant: {up}, {up}, {up}, {up}]