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
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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 All cases elevate over the screen so the display won’t be touching the surface even when placed face down, and all three cases have additional magnets to supports MagSafe gripping. Ben Sin, Forbes, 24 Sep. 2024 In addition, the iPhone 16 Pro Max failed to boot back up again when dropped face down from 6 feet. Michael Kan, PCMAG, 23 Sep. 2024 Hughes was face down on the ground about four car lengths behind them. Keith Sharon, USA TODAY, 2 Sep. 2024 In Zoya’s rendering of a rape victim lying face down in blood, her head has turned too far to the side, like a broken doll’s, and her empty eye sockets stare at the viewer. Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024 He was placed face down on the pavement and handcuffed. Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 14 Sep. 2024 The drone video shows how, once all three Ukrainians are out of the trench and lying face down, the Russians fire. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 6 Sep. 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 5 Nov. 2024.

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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