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
Detroit police found her lying face down on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head, according to Worthy.
—Andrea May Sahouri, Detroit Free Press, 10 May 2024
In addition to cutting into the safes, the burglars positioned the ATMs in the club face down, the department said.
—Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY, 8 May 2024
He was laid face down on the ground, released from his restraints and stripped of his jail uniform.
—Nichole Manna, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 May 2024
At the gymnastics world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, in October, Fred Richard found himself in an unfamiliar position—face down on the mat.
—Alice Park / Ann Arbor, TIME, 1 May 2024
Most calls have a tab on the bottom of the frame, and this tab should face down, toward your tongue.
—Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 1 May 2024
Landeros died after fleeing a traffic collision and being subdued by officers who handcuffed him and held him face down.
—Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee, 19 Apr. 2024
The Cleveland Division of Police was called about the shooting on Aug. 15, 2023, and officers found an unresponsive male lying face down on the ground.
—Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024
Reed’s body is later found lying face down behind the vehicle.
—Omar Jimenez, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
Andrea May Sahouri, Detroit Free Press, 10 May 2024
In addition to cutting into the safes, the burglars positioned the ATMs in the club face down, the department said.
—Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY, 8 May 2024
He was laid face down on the ground, released from his restraints and stripped of his jail uniform.
—Nichole Manna, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 May 2024
At the gymnastics world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, in October, Fred Richard found himself in an unfamiliar position—face down on the mat.
—Alice Park / Ann Arbor, TIME, 1 May 2024
Most calls have a tab on the bottom of the frame, and this tab should face down, toward your tongue.
—Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 1 May 2024
Landeros died after fleeing a traffic collision and being subdued by officers who handcuffed him and held him face down.
—Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee, 19 Apr. 2024
The Cleveland Division of Police was called about the shooting on Aug. 15, 2023, and officers found an unresponsive male lying face down on the ground.
—Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024
Reed’s body is later found lying face down behind the vehicle.
—Omar Jimenez, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'face down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near face down
Cite this Entry
“Face down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/face%20down. Accessed 14 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
facedown
adverb
face·down
ˈfās-ˈdau̇n 
: with the face down
floated facedown
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