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.
“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
Fiala, who was laying face down on the ice, was able to prop himself on his elbows but did not move his lower body before being placed on a stretcher and taken to a hospital.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026
Some families stash their phones in another room while the movie is playing, or set them face down on a nearby desk.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026
Like a doll pushed from behind, I fell face down between the rails and lay flat and thin as I could, head low between crossties, arms stretched overhead.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
