The difference between Down and Low

When used as nouns, down means a hill, especially a chalk hill, whereas low means something that is low.

When used as adverbs, down means from a higher position to a lower one, whereas low means close to the ground.

When used as verbs, down means to drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty, whereas low means to depress.

When used as adjectives, down means sad, unhappy, depressed, feeling low, whereas low means pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) in an area which is at a lesser elevation, closer to sea level (especially near the sea), than other regions.

Down is also preposition with the meaning: from the higher end to the lower of.

check bellow for the other definitions of Down and Low

  1. Down as a noun (especially southern England):

    A hill, especially a chalk hill; rolling grassland

    Examples:

    "We went for a walk over the downs."

    "The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England."

  2. Down as a noun (usually plural):

    A field, especially one used for horse racing.

  3. Down as a noun (UK, mostly, in the plural):

    A tract of poor, sandy, undulating or hilly land near the sea, covered with fine turf which serves chiefly for the grazing of sheep.

  4. Down as a noun (American football):

    Any of the four chances for a team to successfully move the ball for the yards needed to keep possession of the ball.

    Examples:

    "first down, second down, etc."

  1. Down as an adverb (comparable):

    From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.

    Examples:

    "The cat jumped down from the table."

  2. Down as an adverb (comparable):

    At a lower and/or further along or away place or position along a set path.

    Examples:

    "His place is farther down the road."

    "The company was well down the path to bankruptcy."

  3. Down as an adverb:

    South (as south is at the bottom of typical maps).

    Examples:

    "I went down to Miami for a conference."

  4. Down as an adverb (Ireland):

    Away from the city (even if the location is to the North).

    Examples:

    "He went down to Cavan."

    "'down on the farm"

    "'down country"

  5. Down as an adverb (sport):

    Towards the opponent's side (in ball-sports).

  6. Down as an adverb:

    Into a state of non-operation.

    Examples:

    "The computer has been shut down."

    "They closed the shop down."

  7. Down as an adverb:

    To a subordinate or less prestigious position or rank.

    Examples:

    "Smith was sent down to the minors to work on his batting."

    "After the incident, Kelly went down to Second Lieutenant."

  8. Down as an adverb (rail transport):

    In the direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.

  9. Down as an adverb (sentence substitute, imperative):

    Get down.

    Examples:

    "'Down, boy! qualifier such as to direct a dog to stand on four legs from two, or to sit from standing on four legs."

  10. Down as an adverb (UK, academia):

    Away from Oxford or Cambridge.

    Examples:

    "He's gone back down to Newcastle for Christmas."

  11. Down as an adverb:

    From a remoter or higher antiquity.

  12. Down as an adverb:

    From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence.

  13. Down as an adverb:

    From less to greater detail.

  14. Down as an adverb (intensifier):

    Examples:

    "They tamped (down) the asphalt to get a better bond."

  15. Down as an adverb:

    Examples:

    "He boiled the mixture./He boiled down the mixture."

    "He sat waiting./He sat down and waited."

  1. Down as a preposition:

    From the higher end to the lower of.

    Examples:

    "The ball rolled down the hill."

  2. Down as a preposition:

    From one end to another of.

    Examples:

    "The bus went down the street."

    "They walked down the beach holding hands."

  1. Down as an adjective (informal):

    sad, unhappy, Depressed, feeling low.

  2. Down as an adjective:

    Sick or ill.

    Examples:

    "He is down with the flu''."

  3. Down as an adjective:

    At a lower level than before.

    Examples:

    "The stock market is down."

    "Prices are down."

  4. Down as an adjective:

    Having a lower score than an opponent.

    Examples:

    "They are down by 3-0 with just 5 minutes to play."

    "He was down by a bishop and a pawn after 15 moves."

    "At 5-1 down, she produced a great comeback to win the set on a tiebreak."

  5. Down as an adjective (baseball, colloquial, following the noun modified):

    Out.

    Examples:

    "Two down and one to go in the bottom of the ninth."

  6. Down as an adjective (colloquial):

    With "on", negative about, hostile to

    Examples:

    "Ever since Nixon, I've been down on Republicans."

  7. Down as an adjective (not comparable, North America, slang):

    Comfortable with, accepting of.

    Examples:

    "He's chill enough; he'd probably be totally down with it."

    "Are you down to hang out at the mall, Jamal?"

    "As long as you're down with helping me pick a phone, Tyrone."

  8. Down as an adjective (not comparable):

    Inoperable; out of order; out of service.

    Examples:

    "The system is down."

  9. Down as an adjective:

    Finished (of a task); defeated or dealt with (of an opponent or obstacle); elapsed (of time). Often coupled with to go (remaining).

    Examples:

    "Two down and three to go.'' (Two tasks completed and three more still to be done.)"

    "Ten minutes down and nothing's happened yet."

  10. Down as an adjective (not comparable, military, police, slang, of a person):

    Wounded and unable to move normally; killed.

    Examples:

    "We have an officer down outside the suspect's house."

    "There are three soldiers down and one walking wounded."

  11. Down as an adjective (not comparable, military, aviation, slang, of an aircraft):

    Mechanically failed, collided, shot down, or otherwise suddenly unable to fly.

    Examples:

    "We have a chopper down near the river''."

  12. Down as an adjective:

    Thoroughly practiced, learned or memorised; mastered.

    Examples:

    "It's two weeks until opening night and our lines are still not down yet."

  13. Down as an adjective (obsolete):

    Downright; absolute; positive.

  1. Down as a verb (transitive):

    To drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty.

    Examples:

    "He downed an ale and ordered another."

  2. Down as a verb (transitive):

    To cause to come down; to knock down or subdue.

    Examples:

    "The storm downed several old trees along the highway."

  3. Down as a verb (transitive, pocket billiards):

    To put a ball in a pocket; to pot a ball.

    Examples:

    "He downed two balls on the break."

  4. Down as a verb (transitive, American football):

    To bring a play to an end by touching the ball to the ground or while it is on the ground.

    Examples:

    "He downed it at the seven-yard line."

  5. Down as a verb (transitive):

    To write off; to make fun of.

  6. Down as a verb (obsolete, intransitive):

    To go down; to descend.

  1. Down as a noun:

    A negative aspect; a downer.

    Examples:

    "I love almost everything about my job. The only down is that I can't take Saturdays off."

  2. Down as a noun (dated):

    A grudge ( someone).

  3. Down as a noun:

    An act of swallowing an entire drink at once.

  4. Down as a noun (American football):

    A single play, from the time the ball is snapped (the start) to the time the whistle is blown (the end) when the ball is down, or is downed.

    Examples:

    "I bet after the third down, the kicker will replace the quarterback on the field."

  5. Down as a noun (crosswords):

    A clue whose solution runs vertically in the grid.

    Examples:

    "I haven't solved 12 or 13 across, but I've got most of the downs."

  6. Down as a noun:

    A downstairs room of a two-story house.

    Examples:

    "She lives in a two-up two-down."

  7. Down as a noun:

    Down payment.

  1. Down as a noun:

    Soft, fluffy immature feathers which grow on young birds. Used as insulating material in duvets, sleeping bags and jackets.

  2. Down as a noun (botany):

    The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the seeds of certain plants, such as the thistle.

  3. Down as a noun:

    The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.

  4. Down as a noun:

    That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down.

  1. Down as a verb (transitive):

    To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.

  1. Low as an adjective (baseball, of a ball):

    Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty. Pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) in an area which is at a lesser elevation, closer to sea level (especially near the sea), than other regions. Below the batter's knees.

    Examples:

    "standing on low ground'' ''in a low valley, ringed by low hills'' ''a low wall'' ''a low shelf"

    "the low countries'' ''Low German"

    "the pitch (or: the ball) was low"

  2. Low as an adjective:

    Of less than normal height; below the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.

    Examples:

    "a low bow'' ''a low tide'' ''the Mississippi is unusually low right now"

  3. Low as an adjective:

    Not high in status, esteem or rank, dignity, or quality. .}}

    Examples:

    "low birth'' ''low rank'' ''the low officials of the bureaucracy'' ''low-quality fabric'' ''playing low tricks on them'' ''a person of low mind"

    "Now that was low even for you!"

  4. Low as an adjective:

    Humble, meek, not haughty.

  5. Low as an adjective:

    Disparaging; assigning little value or excellence.

    Examples:

    "She had a low opinion of cats. He took a low view of dogs."

  6. Low as an adjective:

    Being a nadir, a bottom.

    Examples:

    "the low point in her career"

  7. Low as an adjective:

    Depressed in mood, dejected, sad.

    Examples:

    "low spirits"

  8. Low as an adjective:

    Lacking health or vitality, strength or vivacity; feeble; weak.

    Examples:

    "a low pulse"

    "made (or: laid) low by sickness"

  9. Low as an adjective:

    Small, not high (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc). Having a small or comparatively smaller concentration of (a substance, which is often but not always linked by "in" when predicative). Depleted, or nearing deletion; lacking in supply.

    Examples:

    "My credit union charges a low interest rate. Jogging during a [[whiteout]], with such low temperatures and low visibility, is dangerous. The store sold bread at low prices, and milk at even lower prices. The contractors gave a low estimate of the costs. low cholesterol a low voltage wire a low number"

    "diets low in vitamin A'' ''made from low-carbon steel"

    "running low on cash"

  10. Low as an adjective (especially in the field of, _, biology):

    Simple in complexity or development; favoring simplicity; see e.g. , .

    Examples:

    "low protozoan animals, low cryptogamic plants, and other low organisms"

  11. Low as an adjective (in several set phrases):

    Being near the equator.

    Examples:

    "the low northern latitudes"

  12. Low as an adjective (acoustics):

    Grave in pitch, due to being produced by relatively slow vibrations (wave oscillations); flat.

    Examples:

    "The note was too low for her to sing."

    "Generally, European men have lower voices than their Indian counterparts."

  13. Low as an adjective:

    Quiet; soft; not loud.

    Examples:

    "They spoke in low voices so I would not hear what they were saying."

    "Why would you want to play heavy metal at such a low volume?"

  14. Low as an adjective (phonetics):

    Made with a relatively large opening between the tongue and the palate; made with (part of) the tongue positioned low in the mouth, relative to the palate.

  15. Low as an adjective (card games):

    Lesser in value than other cards, denominations, suits, etc.

    Examples:

    "a low card"

  16. Low as an adjective (archaic):

    Not rich, seasoned, or nourishing; plain, simple.

    Examples:

    "a low diet"

  17. Low as an adjective (of an, automobile, gear, etc):

    Designed for a slow (or the slowest) speed.

    Examples:

    "low gear"

  1. Low as a noun:

    Something that is low; a low point.

    Examples:

    "You have achieved a new low in behavior, Frank."

    "Economic growth has hit a new low."

  2. Low as a noun:

    The minimum value attained by some quantity within a specified period.

    Examples:

    "Unemployment has reached a ten-year low."

  3. Low as a noun:

    A depressed mood or situation.

    Examples:

    "He is in a low right now"

  4. Low as a noun (meteorology):

    An area of low pressure; a depression.

    Examples:

    "A deep low is centred over the British Isles."

  5. Low as a noun:

    The lowest-speed gearing of a power-transmission system, especially of an automotive vehicle.

    Examples:

    "Shift out of low before the car gets to eight miles per hour."

  6. Low as a noun (card games):

    The lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.

  7. Low as a noun:

    (slang) (usually accompanied by "the") a cheap, cost-efficient, or advantageous payment or expense.

    Examples:

    "He got the brand new Yankees jersey for the low."

  1. Low as an adverb:

    Close to the ground.

  2. Low as an adverb:

    Of a pitch, at a lower frequency.

  3. Low as an adverb:

    With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.

    Examples:

    "to speak low"

  4. Low as an adverb:

    Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.

    Examples:

    "He sold his wheat low."

  5. Low as an adverb:

    In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.

  6. Low as an adverb:

    In a time approaching our own.

  7. Low as an adverb (astronomy):

    In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.

    Examples:

    "The moon runs low, i.e. comparatively near the horizon when on or near the meridian."

  1. Low as a verb (obsolete, transitive):

    To depress; to lower.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Jonathan Swift"

  1. Low as a verb (obsolete, nocat=1):

    .

  1. Low as a verb (intransitive):

    To moo.

    Examples:

    "The cattle were lowing."

  1. Low as a noun (countable, UK, Scotland, dialect):

    A flame; fire; blaze.

  1. Low as a verb (UK, Scotland, dialect):

    To burn; to blaze.

  1. Low as a noun (archaic, or, obsolete):

    Barrow, mound, tumulus.

  2. Low as a noun (Scottish dialectal, archaic):

    A hill.

Compare words:

Compare with synonyms and related words: