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

The decision to offer homeownership counseling services, for example, was spurred after a program that offered down payment assistance had no takers. —Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 15 Feb. 2026

For instance, someone could use the 529 account to help pay for college and then keep it open and use it to start saving for a down payment. —Zach Halaschak, The Washington Examiner, 15 Feb. 2026

The couple aims to put away about $1,200 a month, hoping to someday have enough saved for a down payment on a house. —Eliza Shapiro, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026

Civil cases with multiple plaintiffs and involving large sums can be assigned there, especially if there are competing claims of contract violations, stolen down payments, mechanic’s leins, bank loans and local property tax debts. —Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 12 Feb. 2026

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