Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb In a position so that the face is down.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb of a person or object In a manner such that the face, front, or surface which is normally directed forward for viewing is positioned downward.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

face + down

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Examples

  • There wasn't any great metaphor but the day before there was a little dead bird face-down in the snow with its rigid little blue tail stuck straight up in the air.

    Cartoon Music RW Spryszak 2011

  • For the 150,000 or so revelers who annually land some face-down upon the city, Louisville is a gracious host who enjoys breaking out big hats and offering up mint juleps while debating whether hometown jockey Calvin Borel will make it his fourth Derby win in five years.

    Days at the Races 2011

  • In this video, two officers seem to be spending a lot of time trying to cuff someone who is face-down on the ground.

    Matthew Yglesias » Oscar Grant 2009

  • He crawled blindly toward the sound, felt the damp earth, pulled himself forward and dropped face-down.

    Nothing in the World (an excerpt) Roy Kesey 2011

  • He said armed men in black uniforms bound him with plastic handcuffs and forced him to lie on the ground face-down while agents beat him.

    Bahrain police detain, beat rights activist 2011

  • Grant was lying face-down, with both hands behind his back, when Mehserle shot him, Oakland police investigators said.

    Matthew Yglesias » Oscar Grant 2009

  • MSNBC reported that Wendell Noyes was taken by ambulance after repeatedly laying down in the family's driveway and rolling around, and video showed him dropping to his knees in the driveway and then laying face-down, with his head resting on his hands.

    Missing N.H. girl's body found in river near home 2011

  • MSNBC reported that Wendell Noyes was taken by ambulance after repeatedly laying down in the family's driveway and rolling around, and video showed him dropping to his knees in the driveway and then laying face-down, with his head resting on his hands.

    Missing N.H. girl's body found in river near home 2011

  • Note that the facts of the case show that Grant was cuffed and face-down when he was shot.

    Matthew Yglesias » Oscar Grant 2009

  • They were crying, face-down on the ground, praying — it was a heart-wrenching scene, Mulinix said.

    Boy progressing after dramatic Pacific water rescue 2011

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