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dge; obscurely; dimly; blindly; uncertainly. What fame to future times conveys but darkly down. Dryden. so softly dark and darkly pure. Byron.

ks. [He] dashed through thick and thin. Dryden. On each hand the gushing waters play, And down the rough cascade all dashing fall. Thomson.

Those birds whose young are covered with down when hatched.

ointed to take place; a given point of time; epoch; as, the date of a battle. He at once, Down the long series of eventful time, So fixed the dates of being, so disposed To every living soul of every kind The field of motion, and the hour of rest. Akenside.

piece of furniture for the parlor or boudoir. A much battered davenport in one of the windows, at which sat a lady writing. A. B. Edwards.

Come some evening and dawdle over a dish of tea with me. Johnson. We . . . dawdle up and down Pall Mall. Thackeray.

A prefix from Latin de down, from, away; as in debark, decline, decease, deduct, decamp. In words from the French it is equivalent to Latin dis- apart, away; or sometimes to de. Cf. Dis-. It is negative and opposite in derange, deform, destroy, etc. It is intensive in deprave, despoil, declare, desolate, etc.…

the finest cut made; -- said of files. -- Dead wall (Arch.), a blank wall unbroken by windows or other openings. -- Dead water (Naut.), the eddy water closing in under a ship's stern when sailing. -- Dead weight. (a) A heavy or oppressive burden. Dryden. (b) (Shipping) A ship's lading, when it consists of heavy good…

A breaking or bursting forth; a violent rush or flood of waters which breaks down opposing barriers, and hurls forward and disperses blocks of stone and other débris.

Turned upside down from its proper position; inverted; reversed.

A falling off towards a worse state; a downward tendency; deterioration; decay; as, the declension of virtue, of science, of a state, etc. Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts To base declension. Shak.

Bent downward or aside; (Bot.) bending downward in a curve; declined.

The act or state of bending downward; inclination; as, declination of the head.

To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, etc.; to condescend. "With declining head." Shak. He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family. Lady Hutchinson. Disdaining to decline, Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. Byron…

Descending gradually; moderately steep; sloping; downhill.

Deviation from a horizontal line; gradual descent of surface; inclination downward; slope; -- opposed to acclivity, or ascent; the same slope, considered as descending, being a declivity, which, considered as ascending, is an acclivity.

Broken down with age; wasted and enfeebled by the infirmities of old age; feeble; worn out. "Beggary or decrepit age." Milton. Already decrepit with premature old age. Motley.

A crying down; a clamorous censure; condemnation by censure.

To cry down; to censure as faulty, mean, or worthless; to clamor against; to blame clamorously; to discredit; to disparage. For small errors they whole plays decry. Dryden. Measures which are extolled by one half of the kingdom are naturally decried by the other. Addison.

Act of lying down; decumbence. [Obs.] Evelyn.