face down

adjective or adverb

variants or less commonly face-down or facedown
: with the face down
He was face down on the bed. = He was lying face down on the bed.
Two cards are dealt face down to each player, then the first round of bets is made.Thomas L. Clark
… she walked past us to the lab area, placed the paper face down on the table and looked back at us.David Kwiatkowski
… stood up so fast he knocked his plate of waffles facedown onto the floor.Ingrid Law
usually hyphenated before a noun
… an alternate paper path has been added to turn out face-down copies in proper order, so they don't have to be collated manually.William J. Lynott

Examples of face down in a Sentence

The cards were dealt facedown. He fell facedown in the sand.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
By Kate Sloan Lie face down on a mat with your legs extended and arms supporting your chest. Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 14 Jan. 2025 Hughes was face down on the ground about four car lengths behind them. Keith Sharon, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024 Superman exercise: Lie face down with arms extended, legs straight, and toes pointed. Christopher Bergland, Verywell Health, 19 Dec. 2024 One by one, the Ukrainians are led out into the daylight and forced at gunpoint to lie face down. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 27 Nov. 2024 Keep Yourself Informed All told, using the app timers, bedtime mode, and putting my Pixel 9 Pro face down reduced my usage time to about two hours per day. John Brandon, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2024 Over the next several hours, Modin was alone inside a house, face down on her stomach with wire wrapped around her body and pinned by planks. Brian Brant, People.com, 30 Nov. 2024 Olave was hit and immediately hit the ground face down and was barely moving. Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 3 Nov. 2024 In the film, Lucia marries Pietro, only to face down the barrels of life’s disappointments, just like her parents, with newfound motherhood in tow. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 12 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of face down was in 1818

Dictionary Entries Near face down

Cite this Entry

“Face down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/face%20down. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

facedown

adverb
face·​down ˈfās-ˈdau̇n How to pronounce facedown (audio)
: with the face down
floated facedown
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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