face down

adjective or adverb

variants or less commonly face-down

ˌfās-ˈdau̇n 

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

… she walked past us to the lab area, placed the paper face down on the table and looked back at us.

—David Kwiatkowski

… stood up so fast he knocked his plate of waffles facedown onto the floor.

—Ingrid Law

—usually hyphenated before a noun

… 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

Examples of face down in a Sentence

The cards were dealt facedown.

He fell facedown in the sand.

Recent Examples on the Web

Patients lie face down with their feet dangling over the edge of the examination table. —Matt Villano, CNN Money, 3 Dec. 2025

Another photo depicts the raccoon lying face down, limbs splayed, next to a toilet. —Amy McCarthy, PEOPLE, 3 Dec. 2025

Quinton Byfield couldn't get his shot off on a 2-on-1 break in the extra session, creating a wild scramble that saw Kevin Lankinen end up face down in his crease, allowing Kempe to shoot into an open net for his eighth goal of the season. —CBS News, 29 Nov. 2025

Then, during filming, the team was surprised to find a skeleton buried face down in a pit — a teenage girl who was likely murdered as part of a human sacrifice. —Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 24 Nov. 2025

The boys crashed inside, Zain throwing himself face down on a sofa still wearing his bloodied shirt, and Yazid nosing about looking for bandages and disinfectant. —Daniyal Mueenuddin, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025

Their images were broadcast widely on Venezuelan television, face down with their arms tied behind their backs. —Kevin G. Hall, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025

The technology used included altered shuffling machines that could read the decks, X-ray machines that could read cards through the table when placed face down, and glasses with hidden cameras. —Colin Meyn, The Hill, 24 Oct. 2025

Eileen’s determination to face down the boys and be accepted for her full self or Hedda sneaking around and steering everyone’s fates behind the scenes? —Amy Nicholson, Twin Cities, 23 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for face down

• chinatown
• tumbledown
• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown

Kids Definition

facedown

adverb

face·​down ˈfās-ˈdau̇n 

: with the face down

floated facedown