down (redirected from downing and dirty)

be down in the dumps (informal)

to be unhappy. Things hadn't been going so well for her at work and she was feeling a bit down in the dumps.

See also: dumps

be down in the mouth (informal)

to be sad. Jake looks a bit down in the mouth. Shall we try to find out what's wrong?

See also: mouth

be down on your luck

to be suffering because a lot of bad things are happening to you, usually things which cause you to have no money. He plays the manager of a night-club who's down on his luck and resorts to gambling to pay his debts.

See also: luck

be (down) on your uppers (British, old-fashioned)

to be in a very bad financial situation. Hungary's once successful film industry is on its uppers. He was always ready to help anyone who was down on their uppers.

See also: upper

be (right) up someone's alley (informal, American & Australian, informal)

if something is right up someone's alley, it is exactly the type of thing that they know about or like to do. The job should be right up Steve's alley - working with computers, software and stuff.

See also: alley

be up and down

1. if a person is up and down, they are sometimes happy and sometimes sad, usually after something very bad has happened to them. She's been very up and down since her husband's death.

2. if a situation is up and down, it is sometimes good and successful and sometimes bad and not successful. Things are up and down for dairy farmers at the moment.

deep down

if you know or feel something deep down, you are certain that it is true or you feel it strongly although you do not admit it or show it. Deep down, she knew that what she was doing was wrong. He tried to convince himself that he was enjoying his job, but deep down he was really miserable.

See also: deep

a down and out (British & Australian, American)

someone who has no home, no job and no money. I just assumed he was a down and out, begging on the street corner. She was one of the many down-and-outers waiting for the soup kitchen to open.

down the drain (British, American & Australian, informal, Australian, informal)

if work or money goes down the drain, it is wasted. Then our funding was withdrawn and two years' work went down the drain. Say he gives up his training, that's four thousand pounds down the gurgler.

See also: drain

Down the hatch! (informal)

something that you say before drinking an alcoholic drink, especially when you are going to drink it all without stopping. And a whisky for you. Down the hatch, as they say.

See also: hatch

down the line

if an event is a particular period of time down the line, it will not happen until that period of time has passed. We'll probably want kids too but that's a few years down the line.

See also: line

down the pike (American)

if an event is a particular period of time down the pike, it will not happen until that period of time has passed. Five years down the pike, they'll probably have a kid or two.

See also: pike

down the road

1. if an event is a particular period of time down the road, it will not happen until that period has passed. This is a wonderful invention, but a marketable product is several years down the road yet.

2. if you say that something will happen down the road, you mean it will happen in the future. We may at some point buy a house but that's down the road.

See also: road

down the toilet (British, American & Australian, informal, British, informal)

if something goes down the toilet, it is wasted or spoiled. After the drug scandal, his career went down the toilet. If the factory closes, that'll be a million pounds' worth of investment down the pan.

See also: toilet

down the tube/tubes

1. if something goes down the tubes, it fails or disappears. Our holiday plans went down the tube because of the train strike.

2. if someone goes down the tubes, they fail. He's in danger of going down the tubes if he doesn't learn to get on with people at work.

See also: tube

down to the wire (American & Australian)

until the very last moment that it is possible to do something. If both teams are playing at their best, the game will go down to the wire (= it will be won at the last moment). The Democrats struggled down to the wire to choose their candidate.

See also: wire

down tools (British & Australian)

to refuse to work, especially because you are not satisfied with your pay or working conditions. Thousands of Krakow steelworkers downed tools to demand more pay.

See also: tool

Down Under (informal)

Australia and New Zealand, or in or to Australia and New Zealand. The British rugby team are going on a tour Down Under later this year. I think she's from down under judging by her accent.

down-and-dirty

1. down-and-dirty behaviour is not pleasant or honest. He ran a down-and-dirty political campaign.

2. something that is down-and-dirty is shocking, often because it is connected with sex. He likes his films down-and-dirty.

down-and-out

a down and out - someone who has no home, no job and no money. His next film was about two down-and-out drifters who met in New York. (always before noun)

have something off pat (British, American & Australian, American)

learn something off pat - to learn something so well that you do not have to think about how to do or say it. I've given the same speech so many times I have (= know) it down pat now.

See also: pat

kick someone when they're down

to do something bad to someone when you know they already have a lot of problems. His wife left him last month and I don't want to kick a man when he's down, but we simply don't have any more work for him.

See also: kick

learn something off pat (British, American & Australian, American)

to learn something so well that you do not have to think about how to do or say it. All the answers he'd learned off pat for the interview sounded unconvincing now.

See also: learn, pat

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deep down

strongly felt. Deep down, she knew that she had cheated her friend and it was wrong.

See also: deep

down on someone/something

feeling angry or disappointed with someone or something. Dad's been down on me since I scraped the car backing out of the garage.

down the drain

wasted or lost. I'm scared I'm going to be out of a job, and my 12 years of experience will be down the drain.

Usage notes: often used with go: We cannot afford to let our train system go down the drain.

See also: drain

down the line

in the future. Waiting even a year to put money into your retirement account can make a big difference down the line.

See also: line

down the pike

in the future. She may do something else down the pike, but she won't be doing this.

See also: pike

down the road

in the future. I was asked to gather statistical data that could be useful down the road.

Usage notes: often a time in the future is mentioned: This is a great invention, but a marketable product is several years down the road.

See also: road

down the toilet

wasted or lost. Appearing on that talk show is usually a sign that your career is already down the toilet.

Usage notes: often used with go: He never showed up to drive us, and our plans for the evening went down the toilet.

See also: toilet

down to the wire

until the last possible moment. The election was so close, it went down to the wire and was decided by a court. We had very little time to get the place decorated for the party, which meant that everyone worked right down to the wire.

Etymology: based on the racing meaning of wire (= a thread that marks where a race ends)

See also: wire