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.”
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.
