face down
Britishverb
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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 .
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Overcome, intimidate, or browbeat someone in a bold confrontation. This verbal expression dates from the 16th century. Shakespeare used it in The Comedy of Errors (3:1): “Here's a villain that would face me down.”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I thought maybe they had fractured a rib because that’s how painful it was. I couldn’t sleep face down for three weeks.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
At the time, he was face down on a soft cushion inside a teepee in the nursery's baby room.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
“It requires the government to face down the monopoly that is State Grid, which controls more than 90% of the country’s electricity transmission and distribution.”
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
A mock drowning in the pool, floating face down in the water as his mother does a butterfly stroke back and forth right next to him.
From Salon • Feb. 17, 2026
I figured I'd better put my face down somewhere before it split down the middle.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
