face down
adjective or adverb
variants
or less commonly face-down
or facedown
: with the face down
He was face down on the bed. = He was lying face down on the bed.
Two cards are dealt face down to each player, then the first round of bets is made.—
Thomas L. Clark
Thomas L. Clark… she walked past us to the lab area, placed the paper face down on the table and looked back at us.—David Kwiatkowski
David Kwiatkowski… stood up so fast he knocked his plate of waffles facedown onto the floor.—Ingrid Law
—usually hyphenated before a nounIngrid Law… an alternate paper path has been added to turn out face-down copies in proper order, so they don't have to be collated manually.—William J. Lynott
William J. LynottExamples of face down in a Sentence
The cards were dealt facedown.
He fell facedown in the sand.
Recent Examples on the Web
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s defiant bid to face down a rebellion left his future in the balance Wednesday, but that wasn’t going to stop the United Kingdom playing dress-up for the ceremonial State Opening of Parliament.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 13 May 2026
Dominguez impressively held onto the ball despite the hard collision, but lay face down on the warning track.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2026
The screen cuts to Peppa, face down in a puddle in the centre circle.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 5 May 2026
The outlets reported, citing police, that the son discovered his mother lying face down in a pool of blood from stab wounds and his father dead in another room.
—Luke Chinman, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026
Trump also posted photographs of the suspect, believed to be Allen, shirtless and handcuffed, face down on the floor with officers surrounding him.
—Rebecca Schneid, Time, 27 Apr. 2026
My agent, Marty Diamond, had to face down a steady stream of ‘no’s from fearful artist reps.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 27 Apr. 2026
Ironically, the cloaked and armored marble statue of the goddess was found face down in the rubble near the outer wall of the stage.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 26 Apr. 2026
Boldy struck the ice face-first and stayed face down for several seconds, until a whistle came.
—CBS News, 22 Apr. 2026
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Alexander Smith, NBC news, 13 May 2026
Dominguez impressively held onto the ball despite the hard collision, but lay face down on the warning track.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2026
The screen cuts to Peppa, face down in a puddle in the centre circle.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 5 May 2026
The outlets reported, citing police, that the son discovered his mother lying face down in a pool of blood from stab wounds and his father dead in another room.
—Luke Chinman, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026
Trump also posted photographs of the suspect, believed to be Allen, shirtless and handcuffed, face down on the floor with officers surrounding him.
—Rebecca Schneid, Time, 27 Apr. 2026
My agent, Marty Diamond, had to face down a steady stream of ‘no’s from fearful artist reps.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 27 Apr. 2026
Ironically, the cloaked and armored marble statue of the goddess was found face down in the rubble near the outer wall of the stage.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 26 Apr. 2026
Boldy struck the ice face-first and stayed face down for several seconds, until a whistle came.
—CBS News, 22 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Face down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/face%20down. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
facedown
adverb
face·down
ˈfās-ˈdau̇n 
: with the face down
floated facedown
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