down with (an illness)
Sick with a particular illness, which is named after "with." I've been down with the flu all week and have barely gotten out of bed. Oh boy, both kids have gone down with the stomach flu? We're doomed. I know my voice sounds terrible, but I'm not down with anything contagious—it's just allergies.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
Down with
someone or something! Do away with someone or something!; I am opposed to someone or something! Down with higher taxes! Down with corporate tax breaks! Down with tyrants!
*down with a disease
ill; sick at home. (Can be said about many diseases. *Typically: be ~; Come ~; get~.) Tom isn't here. He's down with a cold. Sally is down with the flu.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
down with
1. Ill with, as in
He's down with the flu. The
down here alludes to being felled by illness. Also see
come down with.
2. Depose, do away with, as in Down with the king! This imperative dates from the early 1500s.
3. Lower or put something down, as in Down with the mainsail. [Mid-1600s]
4. be or get down with . Be close friends with, as in I'm down with that crowd. [Slang; late 1900s]
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.