dove[d@v] n. someone who supports a
peace-seeking U.S. defense policy. (Com-
pare this with hawk.) The doves want
to sell the tanks and distribute the money
to the poor. The hawks want to ignore
the poor and the doves and buy tanks with
the money.
down 1. mod. depressed; melancholy. (See
also down with something.) I feel sort
of down today. We’re all a little down.
- mod. [of a machine] inoperative.
(Originally said of a computer.) The
system is down. Come back later. How
long has it been down? 3. tv. to eat or
drink something down quickly. He
downed a can of soda and burped like a
thunderclap. She downed her sandwich
in record time. 4. tv. to throw someone
down, as in wrestling; to knock someone
down as in a fight. Wilbur downed his
opponent and won the match. Paul
downed the guy with one blow. 5. mod.
behind in a score. We’re three points
down with two minutes to play. They’re
twenty points down, and it looks like the
Adamsville team has won. 6. mod. fin-
ished; completed; behind one. We ll ,
I’ve got the test down. Now what? One
down and three to go. 7. mod. learned;
memorized. (From sense 6.) I got all
the dates down pat. I’ve got the dates
down, but not the names. 8. mod. okay;
satisfactory; cool; in agreement. (See also
down (with someone). The grammar
error in the second example is part of the
typical context.) We had a fight, but
we’re down now. Me and him is down
and always will be. This guy is really
down. 9. mod. prepared; knowledgeable.
(From senses 7 and 8.) Are you down
for the test tomorrow? Everything’s
down for the party. 10. mod. alcohol in-
toxicated. Five beers and he was down.
They were all down by midnight. 11.
Go to downer.
downbeatmod. cool;easygoing. (Com-
pare this with upbeat.) He is sort of a
downbeat character—no stress. I wish
I was downbeat like he is. I had sort of
a downbeat day. Not your typical Monday.
downer and down; downie 1. n. a bar-
biturate or a tranquilizer. (Drugs.) She
favors downers. Too much booze with
those downers, and you’re dead. 2. n. a bad
drug experience; a down trip. (Drugs.)
That stuff you gave me was a real downer.
Dust is a downer for most people. 3. n.
a depressing event; a bad situation; a
down trip. These cloudy days are al-
ways downers. My birthday party was
a downer.down for the countmod. inactive for the
duration (of something). (From boxing.)
I’ve got a terrible cold, and I think I’m
down for the count. Fred is down for the
count. He’s in jail.downieGo to downer.thedown low and theDLthe informa-
tion or explanation; the lowdown.
(Streets.) Give me the haps. What the
down low? Let me in on the down low.down the drainmod. gone; wasted.
Well, there’s 400 bucks down the drain.
A lot of money went down the drain in
that Wilson deal.Down the hatch!exclam. Let’s drink it! (A
drinking toast. See also hatch.) Down
the hatch! Have another? Bottoms up!
Down the hatch!down timen. the time when a computer
is not operating. (Compare this with up
time.) I can’t afford a lot of down time
in the system I buy. We had too much
down time with the other machine.down to the wiremod. until the very last
minute. It came down to the wire before
I turned the proposal in. We went right
down to the wire on that one.down tripn. any bad experience. (See also
downer.) Today was a classic down
trip. My vacation was a down trip.down undern. the area of Australia; Aus-
tralia. I’ve always wanted to visit down
under. We spent Christmas down under.down (with someone)mod. friends with
someone; to be okay or on good terms
with someone. (Down= okay.) It’s
okay. I’m down with Chuck. Chuck and
I are down.dove