| backdown | (noun) a retraction of a previously held position | Synonyms: climb-down, withdrawal |
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| breakdown | (noun) the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue | Synonyms: dislocation |
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| (noun) an analysis into mutually exclusive categories | Synonyms: partitioning |
| (noun) a cessation of normal operation | Synonyms: equipment failure |
| (noun) (biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action | Synonyms: decomposition, putrefaction, rot, rotting |
| (noun) (chemistry) separation of a substance into two or more substances that may differ from each other and from the original substance | Synonyms: chemical decomposition reaction, decomposition, decomposition reaction |
| (noun) a mental or physical breakdown | Synonyms: crack-up |
| clampdown | (noun) sudden restriction on an activity | - |
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| closedown | (noun) termination of operations | Synonyms: closing, closure, shutdown |
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| comedown | (noun) decline to a lower status or level | - |
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| countdown | (noun) counting backward from an arbitrary number to indicate the time remaining before some event (such as launching a space vehicle) | - |
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| crackdown | (noun) severely repressive actions | - |
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| down | (noun) (American football) a complete play to advance the football | - |
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| (noun) soft fine feathers | Synonyms: down feather |
| (noun) fine soft dense hair (as the fine short hair of cattle or deer or the wool of sheep or the undercoat of certain dogs) | Synonyms: pile |
| (noun) (usually plural) a rolling treeless highland with little soil | - |
| downbeat | (noun) the first beat of a musical measure (as the conductor's arm moves downward) | - |
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| downcast | (noun) a ventilation shaft through which air enters a mine | - |
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| downdraft | (noun) a strong downward air current | - |
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| downer | (noun) a drug that reduces excitability and calms a person | Synonyms: depressant, sedative, sedative drug |
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| downfall | (noun) a sudden decline in strength or number or importance | Synonyms: fall |
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| (noun) failure that results in a loss of position or reputation | Synonyms: ruin, ruination |
| (noun) the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist) | Synonyms: precipitation |
| downgrade | (noun) the property possessed by a slope or surface that descends | - |
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| downheartedness | (noun) a feeling of low spirits | Synonyms: dejectedness, dispiritedness, low-spiritedness, lowness |
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| downhill | (noun) a ski race down a trail | - |
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| (noun) the downward slope of a hill | - |
| downiness | (noun) a light softness | Synonyms: featheriness, fluffiness |
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| downpour | (noun) a heavy rain | Synonyms: cloudburst, deluge, pelter, soaker, torrent, waterspout |
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| downrightness | (noun) the quality of being direct and straightforward | Synonyms: straightforwardness |
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| downshift | (noun) a change to a lower gear in a car or bicycle | - |
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| (noun) a change from a financially rewarding but stressful career to a less well paid but more fulfilling one | - |
| downside | (noun) a negative aspect of something that is generally positive | - |
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| downsizing | (noun) the reduction of expenditures in order to become financially stable | Synonyms: curtailment, retrenchment |
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| downslope | (noun) a downward slope or bend | Synonyms: declension, declination, decline, declivity, descent, fall |
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| downspin | (noun) a swift and dangerous downturn | - |
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| downstage | (noun) the front half of the stage (as seen from the audience) | - |
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| downstroke | (noun) a stroke normally made in a downward direction | - |
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| downswing | (noun) a swing downward of a golf club | - |
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| (noun) a worsening of business or economic activity | Synonyms: downturn |
| downtick | (noun) a transaction in the stock market at a price below the price of the preceding transaction | - |
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| downtime | (noun) a period of time when something (as a machine or factory) is not operating (especially as a result of malfunctions) | - |
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| downtown | (noun) the central area or commercial center of a town or city | Synonyms: business district |
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| downturn | (noun) a worsening of business or economic activity | Synonyms: downswing |
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| eiderdown | (noun) down of the eider duck | - |
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| (noun) a soft quilt usually filled with the down of the eider | Synonyms: continental quilt, duvet |
| godown | (noun) (in India and Malaysia) a warehouse | - |
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| knockdown | (noun) a blow that knocks the opponent off his feet | - |
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| landowner | (noun) a holder or proprietor of land | Synonyms: landholder, property owner |
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| letdown | (noun) a feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized | Synonyms: disappointment |
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| lockdown | (noun) the act of confining prisoners to their cells (usually to regain control during a riot) | - |
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| lookdown | (noun) similar to moonfish but with eyes high on the truncated forehead | Synonyms: lookdown fish, Selene vomer |
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| meltdown | (noun) a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown | - |
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| (noun) severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and radiation escaping | Synonyms: nuclear meltdown |
| rubdown | (noun) the act of rubbing down, usually for relaxation or medicinal purposes | - |
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| rundown | (noun) a concluding summary (as in presenting a case before a law court) | Synonyms: summation, summing up |
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| shakedown | (noun) extortion of money (as by blackmail) | - |
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| (noun) a very thorough search of a person or a place | - |
| (noun) initial adjustments to improve the functioning or the efficiency and to bring to a more satisfactory state | - |
| showdown | (noun) a hostile disagreement face-to-face | Synonyms: confrontation, encounter, face-off |
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| shutdown | (noun) termination of operations | Synonyms: closedown, closing, closure |
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| slowdown | (noun) the act of slowing down or falling behind | Synonyms: lag, retardation |
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| spelldown | (noun) a contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly | Synonyms: spelling bee, spelling contest |
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| splashdown | (noun) a landing of a spacecraft in the sea at the end of a space flight | - |
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| standdown | (noun) (military) a temporary stop of offensive military action | Synonyms: stand-down |
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| (noun) a suspension and relaxation from an alert state or a state of readiness | Synonyms: stand-down |
| sundown | (noun) the time in the evening at which the sun begins to fall below the horizon | Synonyms: sunset |
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| sundowner | (noun) a drink taken at sundown | - |
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| (noun) a tramp who habitually arrives at sundown | - |
| takedown | (noun) a crushing remark | Synonyms: put-down, squelch, squelcher |
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| (noun) (amateur wrestling) being brought to the mat from a standing position | - |
| thistledown | (noun) pappus of a thistle consisting of silky featherlike hairs attached to the seed-like fruit of a thistle | - |
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| touchdown | (noun) a score in American football; being in possession of the ball across the opponents' goal line | - |
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| (noun) a landing (as the wheels touch the landing field); especially of airplanes | - |
| turndown | (noun) the act of refusing an offer | Synonyms: nonacceptance |
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