down payment

American  

Or down-payment

noun

• down payments
  plural

1. an initial amount paid at the time of purchase, in installment buying, time sales, etc.

2. any initial or partial payment, gift, favor, or recompense, as to reduce one's indebtedness or express one's obligation or gratitude.

   This gift is just a down payment for all the favors I owe you.

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down payment British  

noun

1. the deposit paid on an item purchased on hire-purchase, mortgage, etc

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down payment Cultural  

1. A payment in part made at the time of purchase of a good, with the promise to make full payment later.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• down payments
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of down payment

First recorded in 1925–30

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

down payment

In a subsequent phone call, he repeated that he would not pursue an untruthful claim and said he would arrange for the £250 down payment to be repaid.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

Let me also tell you that saving for a down payment is not easy in a major metropolitan area when a house costs three to four times your annual income.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

Buyers who make 200% of the area’s median income or less would get up to 17% of a newly built home’s purchase price for a down payment.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

The idea seems to be that the state down payment loan would obviate the higher interest rates buyers would otherwise have to pay under federal programs if they put only 3% down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

On the upside, Dad said, the house had cost only a thousand dollars, and the owner had waived the down payment.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

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Related Words

• deposit

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