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
These three brave men have come to fight for the future of Australian agriculture, to face down a foe the Australian army has never faced before.
—Tom Hawking, Popular Science, 25 Feb. 2026
Photographs taken by the police show the van on its side and a group of young Somali men, including Ahmed, handcuffed and lying face down in the grass.
—Elizabeth Flock, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
First responders found the man face down in a ditch filled with water, officials said.
—Nick Lentz, CBS News, 22 Feb. 2026
Fiala, who was laying face down on the ice, was able to prop himself on his elbows but did not move his lower body before being placed on a stretcher and taken to a hospital.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2026
Greenson breaks into Monroe's bedroom and finds the 36-year-old movie star lying naked, lifeless, face down on her bed, still clutching the telephone receiver.
—Kaycee Sloan, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Feb. 2026
DeKalb County officers ignored his gasping for breath and loaded him face down into a police vehicle, lawyers said.
—Samantha Hogan, AJC.com, 13 Feb. 2026
Pretti can be seen holding only a phone in his hand before at least six officers tackle him, pinning him face down on the ground and shooting him in the back, firing what sounds like 10 shots.
—Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 27 Jan. 2026
The fight that ensued, according to the police probable cause statement, ended with Wells, the married father of four children, being shot at close range and dying in the middle of the street, lying face down, with five bullet holes in the front of his body and eight in his back.
—Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 21 Jan. 2026
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Tom Hawking, Popular Science, 25 Feb. 2026
Photographs taken by the police show the van on its side and a group of young Somali men, including Ahmed, handcuffed and lying face down in the grass.
—Elizabeth Flock, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
First responders found the man face down in a ditch filled with water, officials said.
—Nick Lentz, CBS News, 22 Feb. 2026
Fiala, who was laying face down on the ice, was able to prop himself on his elbows but did not move his lower body before being placed on a stretcher and taken to a hospital.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2026
Greenson breaks into Monroe's bedroom and finds the 36-year-old movie star lying naked, lifeless, face down on her bed, still clutching the telephone receiver.
—Kaycee Sloan, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Feb. 2026
DeKalb County officers ignored his gasping for breath and loaded him face down into a police vehicle, lawyers said.
—Samantha Hogan, AJC.com, 13 Feb. 2026
Pretti can be seen holding only a phone in his hand before at least six officers tackle him, pinning him face down on the ground and shooting him in the back, firing what sounds like 10 shots.
—Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 27 Jan. 2026
The fight that ensued, according to the police probable cause statement, ended with Wells, the married father of four children, being shot at close range and dying in the middle of the street, lying face down, with five bullet holes in the front of his body and eight in his back.
—Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Face down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/face%20down. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
facedown
adverb
face·down
ˈfās-ˈdau̇n 
: with the face down
floated facedown
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