down payment

noun

: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the balance to be paid later

broadly : the first step in a process

Examples of down payment in a Sentence

She made a 10 percent down payment on the car.

We put a down payment on the house.

Recent Examples on the Web

And the calculation also includes a 20% down payment. —Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 16 Aug. 2025

McClanahan and McChesney took out a $1,000,000 SBA 7 (a) small business loan, which required a down payment of around $112,000. —Sophie Caldwell lauren Shamo, CNBC, 16 Aug. 2025

Things seem to be looking up for Lynette, who finally has enough money to put a down payment on the home her family has lived in for years. —Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025

The primary barrier is the lack of flexible financing for these transitions, as employees often can’t make a down payment. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for down payment

• copayment
• embayment
• nonpayment
• prepayment
• repayment
• claimant
• overpayment
• underpayment

Kids Definition

down payment

noun

: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the remainder to be paid later