Heading
1839. W. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 138, [ed. 1840.] Awake! to be sure I am, my flash cove, replied Sheppard, I'm down as a hammer.
1850. F. E. Smedley, Frank Fairleigh, ch. iv. You're about right there, Mr. Lawless, you're down to every move, I see, as usual.
1865. G. F. Berkeley, Life, etc., II., 103. Crib. I said . . . I'm down on it all; the monkey never bit your dog.
3. (old).—Hang-dog. Cf., adv., sense 1.
1703. Ward, London Spy, pt. xv., p. 353. He describes a swarthy, black, ill-looking Fellow, with a down look, or the like.
1879. Jas. Payn, High Spirits (Number Forty-seven). 'Well, he was rather a down-looking cove. 'Hang-dog?' said I. 'Well, yes, to be frank, hang-dog.'
4. Verb (common).—To put on one's back: whether by force or by persuasion: e.g., to down a woman = to lay her out for copulation.—See also quot.
1874. Henley, Unpublished Ballad. Then I downs my bleedin' Judy, And I puts a new head on her.
To be down a pit, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To be very much 'taken' with a part.
To be, or come down upon one, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To be-rate; to attack; to oppose. Sometimes with a tag: e.g., like a thousand, or a load, of bricks; like one o'clock; like a tom-tit on a horse-turd, etc.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. I think we should be down upon the fellow one of these darkmans, and let him get it well.
1823. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry (Dicks' ed., 1889), p. 6. Prime. From the cut of the gentleman's clothes, I presume he's lately come from the Esquimaux Islands. Tom. Ha! ha! very good, Primefit; I say, Jerry—you see he's down upon you.
1864. London Review, 28 May. There are no loungers in this mortal sphere who so nicely judge a horse's points, or who are so inexorably down upon any blemish as this careless fringe of observers upon those two fashionable promenades.
1877. Five Years' Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 167. Let him only find out a man in some artful little game, and he would be down on him and hunt his life out almost.
To be down pin, verb. phr. (skittle alley).—To be out of sorts, or despondent. Cf., Down, adv., sense 1.
To drop down to one, verb. phr. (old).—To discover one's character or designs.
To put a down upon one, verb. phr. (old).—To peach so as to cause detection or failure.
To put one down to [a thing], verb. phr. (old).—To apprize, elucidate, or explain; to coach or prime; to 'let one into the know.
To take down a peg.—See Peg.
Downed, ppl. adj. (common).—Tricked;
beaten; 'sat upon.'
[Cf., down, adv., sense 1.]
Downer, subs, (old).—1. A sixpence.
In U.S.A., a five-cent.
piece. [Cf., deaner (q.v.);
now corrupted into Tanner
(q.v.).] For synonyms, see
Bender.
1857. Snowden, Mag, Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. Sixpence, downer, also sprat.
1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. vi. It's not the first downer I've had by a good many; and if it was not for leaving you I shouldn't care so much about it!
1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. Two more names for a sixpence are a downer and a 'tanner.'
