SINCE 1828
down payment
nounDefinition 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
Often, these buyers see condos as an affordable option, but don’t have the down payment, credit score or other qualifications needed to get a conventional loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. — Kathleen Pender, SFChronicle.com, "FHA will now back loans on condo units in complexes that lack agency approval," 14 Aug. 2019 The down payment covered half of an agreed-upon $5,000 fee, according to the plea agreement. — Jeff Truesdell, PEOPLE.com, "Adult Film Actress Admits Hiring a Hitman to Kill Her Child’s Father," 7 Aug. 2019 Executive Summary: Swedes and Garrison Keillor types in Minnesota, 20 percent down payments in Texas. — Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, "Welcome to the Machine," 26 July 2019 You’re asked for a large down payment, such as for a home repair or storm damage clean-up. — cleveland.com, "Senior scams on the rise as new cons emerge: Here’s how to protect yourself," 30 June 2019 The fake profile was selling cell phones and asking for a down payment. — cleveland.com, "Post office refuses fake money orders: Middleburg Heights Police Blotter," 16 Aug. 2019 On July 26, the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s (H-GAC) Transportation Policy Council (TPC) approved a $100 million down payment to begin to rebuild Segment 2 of I-45, which runs from I-10 to North Loop 610. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Houston’s $7 billion solution to gridlock is more highways," 5 Aug. 2019 With a median home price of $445,900 in Denver, only about one in 20 listings met the affordability standard as of May, assuming a typical mortgage length and down payment. — Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, "Only 1 in 20 houses in Denver is affordable for teachers, study finds," 19 July 2019 Any customer who bought a new 1956 Ford could do so with an initial 20 percent down payment and three years of monthly $56 payments. — Hannah Denham, Washington Post, "Six ways Lee Iacocca transformed the auto industry," 3 July 2019These 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.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on down payment
What made you want to look up down payment? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Musical Words Quiz
-
- Which word describes a musical performance marked by the absence of instrumental accompaniment?
Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Words at Play
Share down payment
Resources for down payment