face down

See also: facedown and face-down

English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

face down (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of face-down

Adverb

face down (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of face-down

Verb

face down (third-person singular simple present faces down, present participle facing down, simple past and past participle faced down)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To confront; to abash by stern looks.
   • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC:

     That old philosopher grew cross, / Who could not tell what motion was; / Because he walked against his will, / He faced men down, that he stood still.

   • 2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     An already febrile atmosphere within the ground before the start had been stoked still further when France's players formed an arrow formation to face down the haka, and then advanced slowly over halfway as the capacity crowd roared.

2. (transitive, archaic) To persist in confronting impudently.

Anagrams

• downface