go down

British  

verb

1. (also preposition) to move or lead to or as if to a lower place or level; sink, decline, decrease, etc

   the ship went down this morning

   prices are going down

   the path goes down to the sea

2. to be defeated; lose

3. to be remembered or recorded (esp in the phrase go down in history )

4. to be received

   his speech went down well

5. (of food) to be swallowed

6. bridge to fail to make the number of tricks previously contracted for

7. to leave a college or university at the end of a term or the academic year

8. (usually foll by with) to fall ill; be infected

9. (of a celestial body) to sink or set

   the sun went down before we arrived

10. slang to go to prison, esp for a specified period

    he went down for six months

11. slang to happen

12. slang to perform cunnilingus or fellatio on

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go down Idioms  

1. Descend to a lower level; drop below the horizon, fall to the ground, or sink. For example, Don't let the baby go down the stairs alone , or The sun went down behind the hill , or I was afraid the plane would go down , or The ship went down and all hands were lost . [c. 1300]

2. Experience defeat or ruin, as in They went down fighting , or The boxer went down in the first round . [Late 1500s]

3. Decrease, subside, as in After Christmas prices will go down , or As soon as the swelling goes down it won't hurt as much . [Second half of 1600s]

4. Be swallowed, as in This huge pill just won't go down , or Your wine goes down very smoothly . [Second half of 1500s]

5. Be accepted or believed, as in How did your speech at the convention go down? When it takes an object, it is put as go down with , as in It's hardly the truth but it still goes down with many voters . [c. 1600]

6. Also, go down in history . Be recorded or remembered, as in This event must go down in her book as one of the highlights of the year , or This debate will go down in history . [Late 1800s]

7. Occur, take place, as in Really crazy behavior was going down in the sixties . [ Slang ; mid-1900s] Also see come down , def. 4.

8. Be sent to prison, as in He went down for a five-year term . [ Slang ; c. 1900]

9. In the game of bridge, fail to fulfill one's contract (that is, take fewer than the required number of tricks), as in We had bid four hearts and the bad distribution made us go down . [Early 1900s] Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with go down .

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Example Sentences

“Although volumes didn’t go down as much as one might have expected, they didn’t go up, either,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026

Recent research from University of California, Berkeley, has shown that billionaires have seen their taxes go down over time.

From MarketWatch • May 1, 2026

“I did not really see how the ball came over to us. I just saw it bounce in our direction and my daughter go down to get it,” Moore-DeVore said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

Spurs are now 61.01% favourites to go down, while the Hammers have a 37.98% chance of being relegated.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

I go down the steps, and there’s a lantern already lit, Henek and a woman with sleek, dark hair sitting on crates on either side of it.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Related Words

• collapse
• crumple
• decline
• decrease
• descend
• drop
• pitch
• plunge
• reduce
• sink
• slump
• tumble