3. pl.
Defn: A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war. On the 11th [June, 1771] we run up the channel . . . at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the Downs, and went ashore at Deal. Cook (First Voyage).
4. pl. Etym: [From the adverb.]
Defn: A state of depression; low state; abasement. [Colloq.]
It the downs of life too much outnumber the ups. M. Arnold.
DOWN Down, adv. Etym: [For older adown, AS. ad, ad, prop., from or off the hill. See 3d Down, and cf. Adown, and cf. Adown.]
1. In the direction of gravity or toward the center of the earth; toward or in a lower place or position; below; — the opposite of up.
2. Hence, in many derived uses, as: (a) From a higher to a lower position, literally or figuratively; in a descending direction; from the top of an ascent; from an upright position; to the ground or floor; to or into a lower or an inferior condition; as, into a state of humility, disgrace, misery, and the like; into a state of rest; — used with verbs indicating motion. It will be rain to-night. Let it come down. Shak. I sit me down beside the hazel grove. Tennyson. And that drags down his life. Tennyson. There is not a more melancholy object in the learned world than a man who has written himself down. Addison. The French . . . shone down [i. e., outshone] the English. Shak.
(b) In a low or the lowest position, literally or figuratively; at the bottom of a decent; below the horizon; of the ground; in a condition of humility, dejection, misery, and the like; in a state of quiet. I was down and out of breath. Shak. The moon is down; I have not heard the clock. Shak. He that is down needs fear no fall. Bunyan.
3. From a remoter or higher antiquity. Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. D. Webster.
4. From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence; as, to boil down in cookery, or in making decoctions. Arbuthnot.