down payment

noun

Definition of down payment

: 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

D-Day was nothing less than the down payment on an investment Americans had debated since their inception: whether this country should build bridges to the rest of the world, or walls. — Jeffrey A. Engel, Twin Cities, "Jeffrey Engel: The lesson of D-Day for Americans today," 6 June 2019 Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that the upfront payment for a modular home is significantly different than the 20 percent down payment plus mortgage standard of pre-existing homes. — Candace Braun Davison, House Beautiful, "Everything You Should Know About Modular Homes Before Buying One," 30 May 2019 My mom told me that my parents borrowed the down payment from my maternal grandmother, a $500 sum that was always on revolving loan to one of her 10 siblings. — Michael Smerconish, Philly.com, "You can go home again, if only through your memories | Michael Smerconish," 13 Apr. 2018 The answer was simple — and was quickly adopted by other developers: requiring buyers to put a 50 percent down payment, all cash, without bank financing. — Rene Rodriguez, miamiherald, "This Argentine family visited Miami in 2001 — and changed the city forever," 11 June 2018 The lessee will pay $275 per month for four years, with the same down payment. — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, "Car Decisions: Should You Buy or Lease ... or Subscribe?," 30 Jan. 2019 The down payment may come in the form of cash and/or a rebate, trade-in allowance or other credit. — Houston Chronicle, "Understand leasing terminology," 29 June 2018 Or—who knows—put it toward a down payment on the iconic home from Full House?! — Michele Petry, House Beautiful, "Save Hundreds in Dry-Cleaning Bills With This At-Home Laundry Trick," 2 Apr. 2019 From private lenders, a piggyback loan is another common way to lower the cost of a down payment. — Kevin Mcallister, WSJ, "How to Make Home Ownership a Reality," 13 Jan. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'down payment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

11 Jun 2019

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Time Traveler for down payment

The first known use of down payment was in 1854

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More Definitions for down payment

down payment

noun

English Language Learners Definition of down payment

: a first payment that you make when you buy something with an agreement to pay the rest later

See the full definition for down payment in the English Language Learners Dictionary

down payment

noun

Kids Definition of down payment

: a part of a price paid when something is bought with an agreement to pay the rest later

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