face down

adjective or adverb

variants or less commonly face-down

ˌfās-ˈdau̇n 

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

Not least because the Italian coach's first job was to face down some of the club's biggest egos as the unwieldy squad was chopped down to size. —Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024

Position the small bowls and plates between the tines, angling them to face down and toward the center of the dishwasher. —Nafeesah Allen, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Oct. 2024

The former law officers, along with Mulberry Police Department Officer Thell Riddle, were attempting to subdue Worcester, now 29, and the four men struggled, with Worcester face down on the ground and the trio of officers on top of and kneeling next to or over him. —Penny Weaver, arkansasonline.com, 10 Oct. 2024

Officers found Lorenzo-Olivera, 36, about 1:45 p.m. June 24, 2022, lying face down in a parking lot of an apartment complex at 1299 Electric Ave. —Ron Wood, arkansasonline.com, 6 Nov. 2024

Our testers’ hips dipped when sleeping face down, instead of maintaining alignment. —Macy Alcido, Architectural Digest, 31 Oct. 2024

This means that if the wheelchair user is trying to move forward along a surface that slopes to one side, for instance, the front wheels will automatically turn to face down that slope. —Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 25 Oct. 2024

Nearby, Lebanese army soldiers surrounded a Chevy Silverado where the body of an infant had been discovered, face down in the backseat, a day after the blast sent debris and body parts in a wide arc. —Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2024

Behind the Back Shoulder Drill Katie Thompson Lie face down. —Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 9 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

facedown

adverb

face·​down ˈfās-ˈdau̇n 

: with the face down

floated facedown