facedown

[ adverb feys-doun; noun feys-doun ]

adverb
  1. with the face or the front or upper surface downward: He was lying facedown on the floor. Deal the cards facedown on the table.

noun
  1. Also face-down .Informal. a direct confrontation; showdown.

Origin of facedown

1
1930–35; (def. 1) face + down1; (def. 2) noun use of verb phrase face down

Words Nearby facedown

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How to use facedown in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for face down

face down

verb(tr, adverb)
  1. to confront and force (someone or something) to back down

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with facedown

facedown

With the upper surface put down, as in Please put these papers face down. This usage appears to come from cardplaying. [First half of 1600s] The antonym, “with the upper surface uppermost,” is face up.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.