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
Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.
—Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 11 Apr. 2025
House Democratic leaders are slated to hold a press conference as their counterparts in the Senate face down a nail-biter vote on government funding.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 14 Mar. 2025
On Saturday, Ankalaev gets the chance to face down Pereira.
UFC 313 Fight Card Main Event Preview: Pereira Vs.
—Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
He was found face down in a pillow, the coroner said.
—Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2025
Angela Prichard was found lying face down in the kennel's washroom when investigators arrived at the scene.
—Jonathan Vigliotti, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2025
Turn the pans face down onto the cooling rack, and carefully lift them off.
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Mar. 2025
Glaser was found face down in the bathtub, WCAU reported citing court records.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 12 Mar. 2025
Seeing Hill face down on the ground surrounded by officers who were not Black like him, my mind raced to George Floyd.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 11 Apr. 2025
House Democratic leaders are slated to hold a press conference as their counterparts in the Senate face down a nail-biter vote on government funding.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 14 Mar. 2025
On Saturday, Ankalaev gets the chance to face down Pereira.
UFC 313 Fight Card Main Event Preview: Pereira Vs.
—Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
He was found face down in a pillow, the coroner said.
—Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2025
Angela Prichard was found lying face down in the kennel's washroom when investigators arrived at the scene.
—Jonathan Vigliotti, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2025
Turn the pans face down onto the cooling rack, and carefully lift them off.
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Mar. 2025
Glaser was found face down in the bathtub, WCAU reported citing court records.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 12 Mar. 2025
Seeing Hill face down on the ground surrounded by officers who were not Black like him, my mind raced to George Floyd.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Face down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/face%20down. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
facedown
adverb
face·down
ˈfās-ˈdau̇n 
: with the face down
floated facedown
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share