downcome 
downcome (doim'kum), M. [< down 2 + come.] 
A tumbling or falling down; especially, a sud- 
den or heavy fall ; hence, ruin ; destruction. 
Ye sail William Wallace sec, 
Wi' tllr */(/"// en/,/-- of Koliill Hood. 
Sir H'iUiaM Wallace (Child's Ballads, VI. 242). 
When ever Hie Po[>e shall fall, If Ills mine bee not like 
the SHI I. If ii :inii-n rfi //!''< it n Tuwre, the Bishops, when they 
see him tottering, will leave him. 
M </t"u, Reformation in I'.n^., 1. 
down-draft, down-draught (doun'draft), . 
1. A downward draft or current of air, as in 
a chimney, the shaft of a mine, etc. 2. A 
burden ; anything that draws one down, espe- 
cially in worldly circumstances : as, he has 
been a down-draft on me. [Scotch pron. don'- 
dracht.] 
downdraw (dmm Mra), . Same as down-draft. 
down-east (doun'esf), prep. phr. as a. Coming 
from or living in the northeastern part of New 
England: as, a down-east farmer. [U. 8.] 
down-easter (doun'es'ter), n. One living 
"down cast'' from the speaker: sometimes ap- 
plied to New Euglanders generally, but spe- 
cifically to the inhabitants of Maine. [U. 8.] 
downed (dound), a. [< down 3 + -cd 2 ; = Dan. 
dunet.] Covered or stuffed with down. 
Their nest so deeply downed. Young. 
downfall (doun'fal), . [< down* + fall.] 1. 
A falling downward ; a fall ; descent : as, the 
downfall of a stream. 
K:u-h thnrn/nll of a flood the mountains pour 
Knuii tlirir rich bowels rolls 11 silver stream. 
Dryden. 
2f. What falls downward ; a waterfall. 
Those cataracts or down/alii. Holland. 
3f. A pit ; an abyss. 
Catrafosso [It. 1, a deepe, hollowe, vgly or dreadfull ditch, 
hole, pit, den, treneh, gulfe, dungeon or downfall. Florin. 
4. Descent or fall to a lower position or stand- 
ing ; complete failure or overthrow ; ruin : as, 
the downfall of Napoleon. 
The duke Is virtuous, mild ; and too well given 
To dream on evil, or to work my downfall. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., ill. 1. 
6. Waning; decay. [Rare.] 
'Tween the spring and downfall of the light. 
Tennyson, St. Simeon Stylites. 
6. A kind of trap in which a weight or missile 
falls down when the set is sprung ; a deadfall. 
See the extract. 
Another native method of destroying those animals 
[hippopotamuses] is by means of a trap known as therfotm- 
/"". consisting of a heavy wooden l>eam armed at one end 
with a poisoned spear-head and suspended by the other 
to a forked pole or overhanging branch of a tree. The 
cord by which the beam is suspended descends to the path 
beneath, across which it lies ii such a manner as to be set 
free the Instant it Is touched by the foot of the passing 
hippopotamus ; the Ijeam thus liberated immediately de- 
scends, and the poisoned weapon passes into the head or 
back of the luckless beast, whose death in the adjacent 
stream takes place soon after. Encyc. Brit., XI. 866. 
downfallen (doun'fa'ln), a. Fallen ; ruined. 
Let us ... 
II n], I fast the mortal sword ; and, like good men, 
Bestride our diiutn-fall'n blrthdom. 
Shak., Macbeth, iv. 3. 
The land is now divorced by the down/alien steep cliffs 
on the farther side. R. Carew, Survey of Cornwall. 
down-feather (doun'feTH'er), n. In ornith., a 
feather, generally of small size compared with 
a contour-feather, characterized by a downy 
or plumulaceous structure throughout ; a plu- 
mule. See plum n I/. 
l>:i-,ih-tithers. . . are characterized by a downy struc- 
ture throughout. They more or less completely invest the 
body, luit :nv almost always hidden Iwneath the contour- 
feathers ; like pudding about the bases of the latter. 
Cowed, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 86. 
downerowth (doun'groth), . The act of grow- 
ing downward; the product of a downward 
growth. 
This space subsequently becomes enclosed by definite 
walls by the daimyroiM of the mesoblast in this region. 
Microg. Science, XXVIL 362. 
dpwn-gyvedt (doun'jivd), a. Hanging down 
like the loose links of fetters. [Bare.] 
His stockings foul'd, 
Vugarter'd, and doim-yyvfd to his ancle, 
Shalt., Hamlet, ii. 1. 
downhaul (doun'hal), n. Xaut., a rope by 
which a jib, staysail, gaff-topsail, or studding- 
sail is hauled down when sat. 
1 ... sprang past several, threw the duwnhaul over 
the windlass, and jumped between the knightheads out 
upon the bowsprit. 
K. U. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 32. 
Peak downhaul. See ;o*. 
downhearted (doun'har'ted), a. Dejected; de- 
pressed; discouraged. 
1751 
Dlnna be overly down-hearted, when ye see how won- 
derfully ye are ta'en care o'. Gait. 
downhill (doun'hil),/>re/>. phr. as a. [< down 2 , 
/ircp., + hill 1 .] Sloping downward ; descend- 
ing; declining. 
And the first steps a downhill greensward yields. 
Comjreoe. 
downiness (dou'ni-nes), . 1. The quality of 
being downy. 2. Knowingness; cunuingness; 
artfulness; cuteness. [Slang.] 
Downingia (dou-nin'ji-S), . [NL., named 
after A. J. Downing, a horticulturist and land- 
scape-gardener of New York (1815-52).] A 
small lobeliaceous genus of Californian plants, 
consisting of low annuals with showy blue and 
white flowers. They are occasionally cultivated 
for ornament. 
downland (doun'land), n. [< downl + land. 
Cf. AS. dunland, hilly land, < dun, a hill, + land, 
land.] Land characterized by downs, 
downless(doun'les), a. [< down 3 + -less.] Hav- 
ing no down. 
Beauty and love advanc'd 
Their ensigns in the downltm rosy faces 
Of youths and maids, led after by the graces. 
Marlowe and Chapman, Hero and Leander, v. 
This callow boy with his downleti cheek eclipsed the 
graybeards. llarper'i Mag., LXXVI. 621. 
downlooked (doun'lukt), a. Having a down- 
cast countenance; dejected; gloomy; sullen. 
Jealousy suffused, with jaundice in her eyes. 
Discolouring all she view'd, in tawny dress'd ; 
Downlook'd, and with a cuckoo on her ftst. 
Dryden, Pal. and Arc., ii. 489. 
downlying (doun'li-ing), n. and a. [Sc.] I. . 
1. The time of retiring to rest ; time of repose. 
2. The time at which a woman is to give 
birth to a child ; lying-in : as, she's at the down- 
lying. 
II. o. About to lie down or to be in travail 
of childbirth. 
downpour (doun'por), n. [< down 2 4- pour.] 
A pouring down ; especially, a heavy or con- 
tinuous shower. 
The rain, which had been threatening all day, now de- 
scended in torrents, and we landed in a perfect downpour. 
Lady Brattey, Voyage of Sunbeam, I. viii. 
downright (douu'rit), adv. [< ME. downright, 
dounrif/ht, dounryht, also with adv. gen. suffix 
dounrightes, earliest form dunriht, dunrihte, < 
dun, down, + rihte, adv., right, straight: see 
down 2 , adv., and right, adv. Cf. upright.'] 1. 
Right down ; straight down ; perpendicularly. 
A stoon or tyle under the roote enrounde. 
That it goo nought douneriyht a stalke alloone, 
But sprede aboue. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 56. 
A giant's slain in fight, 
Or mow'd o'erthwart, or cleft downright. 
S. Butler, Hudibras. 
2. In plain terms; without ceremony or cir- 
cumlocution. 
Fairies, away : 
We shall chide downright, if I longer stay. 
Shak., M. N. D., Ii. 2. 
3. Completely ; thoroughly ; utterly : as, he is 
downright mad. 
God gaf the dom hymselue, 
That Adam and Eue and bus issue alle 
Sholden deye doun-ryht and dwelle in peyne euere, 
V f the! touchede the treo and of the (rut eten. 
Piers Plowman (C), xxi. 199. 
He Is a downright witty companion, that met me here 
purposely to be pleasant and eat a Trout. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 84. 
4. Forthwith ; without delay ; at once. 
This paper put Mrs. Bull in such a passion that she fell 
downright into a lit. Arbuthnot. 
downright (doun'rit), a. [< downright, adr.] 
1. Directed vertically; coming straight down. 
I cleft his beaver with a downright blow. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., 1. 1. 
The low thunders of a sultry sky 
Far-rolling ere the downright lightnings glare. 
Whittier, What of the Day. 
2. Directly to the point; plain; unambiguous; 
unevasive. 
I would rather have a plain downright wisdom than 
a foolish and affected eloquence. B. Jonion, Discoveries. 
3. Using plain, direct language; accustomed 
to express opinions directly and bluntly ; blunt. 
Your downright captain still, 
I'll live and serve you. 
Beau, and Fl., Knight of Malta, v. 2. 
Reverend Cranmer, learned Ridley, downright Latimer, 
zealous Bradford, patient Hooper. 
fuller, Sermon of Reformation, p. 17. 
4. Complete; absolute; utter. 
If they proceed upon any other footing, it is downright 
folly. Bacon, Moral Fables, iv., ExpL 
downward 
None could enter Into life but those that were In down- 
riijht earnest. Huuthri/, llunyan, p. si. 
It Is downright madness to strike where we him n<. 
power to hurt xir Ii. I. I 
downrightness (doun'rit-nes), n. Direct or 
plain dealing. 
Nay, was not Andreas in very deed a man of order, 
courage, downrightneiu t Carlyle, Sartor Resart us, p. 66. 
downrush (doun'rush), n. A rushing down. 
[Rare.] 
A downruth of comparatively cool vapours. 
A. M. Clerke, Astron. In 19th Cent, p. 201. 
The doinirwihr* of the gases, which, though absolutely 
intensely hot, are relatively cool. Stoket, Light, p. 2S8. 
downset (doun'set), a. In her., removed from 
its place by its own width. Thus, a bend down- 
get is cut in two, and the two parts are slipped 
past each other until they touch at one point 
only. Double downset, in Itrr., having a piece cut out 
and slipped past by the width of the ordinary, so as to 
touch the remaining parts at two points only. 
down-share (doun'shar), n. In England, a 
breast-plow used to pare off the turf on downs. 
downsitting (doun'sit'ing), M. The act of sit- 
ting down ; repose ; a resting. 
Thou knowcst my dowiaitliny anil mine uprising. 
Ps. cxxxlx. 2. 
downsome (doun'sum), a. [< dow>ft, adv., + 
-some.] Low-spirited; melancholy. [Colloq.] 
When yon left us at 'Frisco we felt pretty dowmome. 
F. R. Stockton, The Dnsantes, ill. 
down-stairs (doun'starz'), prep. phr. as adv. 
Down the stairs; below; to or on a lower floor: 
as, he went or is down-stairs. 
down-stairs (doun'starz), prep. phr. as a. Per- 
taining or relating to, or situated on, the lower 
floor of a house : as, he is in one of the down- 
stairs rooms. 
downsteepyt (doun'ste'pi), a. Having a great 
declivity. 
He came to a craggy and doimuteepju rock. 
Florio, tr. of Montaigne's Essays (1613), p. 197. 
down-stream (doun'strem'), prep. phr. as adr. 
With or in the direction of the current of a 
stream. 
downtake (doun'tak), n. In engin., an air-pas- 
sage leading downward ; speci6cally, sucn a 
passage leading from above to the furnaces or 
blowers of a marine boiler. 
downthrow (doun'thro), n. In mining, a dislo- 
cation of the strata by which any bed of rock 
or seam of coal has been brought into a posi- 
tion lower than that it would otherwise have 
occupied. See dislocation and fault. 
down-tree (doun'tre), n. The Ochroma Lago- 
pus, of tropical America: so called from the 
woolly covering of the seeds. 
downtrodden, downtrod (doun'trod'n, -trod), 
a. Trodden down ; trampled upon ; tyrannized 
over. 
The most underfoot and downtrodden vassals of perdi- 
tion. Milton, Reformation in Eng. 
downward, downwards (doun'ward, -wardz), 
adv. [< ME. dounward, duncward, dunward, 
also with adv. gen. suffix dounwardes, late AS. 
aduneweard, < ddune, adown, down, + -weard, 
-ward : see down 2 , adv., and -ward.] 1. From a 
higher to a lower place, condition, or state. 
Ever in motion ; now 'tis Faith ascends, 
Now Hope, now Charity, that upward tends, 
And doimward* with diffusive good descends. 
Dryden, Eleonora. 
Her hand half-clench'd 
Went faltering sideways downward to her belt. 
Tennyton, Merlin and Vivien. 
2. In a course or direction from a head, origin, 
source, or remoter point in space or in time : 
as, water flows downward toward the sea; to 
trace successive generations downward from 
the earliest records. 
A ring the county wears, 
That downward hath succeeded in his house. 
Shak., All's Well, Hi. 7. 
3. In the lower parts ; as regards the lower 
parts or extremities. 
And also for he bathe Lordschipe aboven alle Bestes : 
therfore make thei the halfendel of Ydole of a man np- 
wardes, and the tother half of an Ox dounwardes. 
Manderille, Travels, p. 166. 
Dagon his name ; sea monster, upward man 
And doirnieanl fish. Milton, P. L., 1. 462. 
downward (doun'ward), a. [< downward, adv.] 
1 . Moving or tending from a higher to a lower 
place, condition, or state ; taking a descending 
direction, literally or figuratively : as, the down- 
icarcicourse of a mountain path,or of adrunkard. 
With ilotrniranl force, 
That drove the sand along, he took his way, 
And roll'd his yellow billows to the sea. Dryden. 
