low-down

lowdown

1. adjective Dishonest or unfair; vile or despicable; contemptible. Always used before a noun. The guy I've been seeing turned out to be a lowdown, cheating rat! You're nothing but a lowdown coward, you know that? My lowdown boss fired me, even though it was his mistake that lost us the client!

2. noun The truth, facts, or most pertinent information about someone or something. OK, here's the lowdown. I've got a great business opportunity lined up, but I need to borrow a few thousand dollars to get it off the ground. This is Jane—she'll give you the lowdown on day-to-day tasks around the office.

low-down

1. adjective Dishonest or unfair; vile or despicable; contemptible. Always used before a noun. The guy I've been seeing turned out to be a low-down, cheating rat! You're nothing but a low-down coward, you know that? My low-down boss fired me, even though it was his mistake that lost us the client!

2. noun The truth, facts, or most pertinent information about something. OK, here's the low-down: I've got a great business opportunity lined up, but I need to borrow a few thousand dollars to get it off the ground. This is Jane—she'll give you the low-down on day-to-day tasks around the office.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*lowdown (on someone or something)

the full story about someone or something. (*Typically: get ~; have ~; give someone ~.) I need to get the lowdown on John. Is he still an accountant? Sally wants to get the lowdown on the new pension plan. Please tell her all about it.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

the lowdown on

The whole truth about something, as in We're waiting to hear the lowdown on what happened after we left. This term uses lowdown in the sense of "the basic or fundamental part." [Slang; early 1900s]

See also: lowdown, on

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lowdown

1. mod. rotten; bad. What a dirty, lowdown thing to do.

2. n. the facts on something; the scuttlebutt about something. What’s the lowdown on that funny statue in the park?

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.