Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Downward"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Downward \Down"ward\, Downwards \Down"wards\, adv. [AS.
ad?nweard. See {Down}, adv., and {-ward}.]
1. From a higher place to a lower; in a descending course;
as, to tend, move, roll, look, or take root, downward or
downwards. ``Looking downwards.'' --Pope.
Their heads they downward bent. --Drayton.
2. From a higher to a lower condition; toward misery,
humility, disgrace, or ruin.
And downward fell into a groveling swine. --Milton.
3. From a remote time; from an ancestor or predecessor; from
one to another in a descending line.
A ring the county wears, That downward hath
descended in his house, From son to son, some four
or five descents. --Shak.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Downward \Down"ward\, a.
1. Moving or extending from a higher to a lower place;
tending toward the earth or its center, or toward a lower
level; declivous.
With downward force That drove the sand along he
took his way. --Dryden.
2. Descending from a head, origin, or source; as, a downward
line of descent.
3. Tending to a lower condition or state; depressed;
dejected; as, downward thoughts. --Sir P. Sidney.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
downward
adj 1: extending or moving from a higher to a lower place; "the
down staircase"; "the downward course of the stream"
[syn: {down(a)}, {downward(a)}]
2: on or toward a surface regarded as a base; "he lay face
downward"; "the downward pull of gravity" [syn: {downward(ip)}]
adv : spatially or metaphorically from a higher to a lower level
or position; "don't fall down"; "rode the lift up and
skied down"; "prices plunged downward" [syn: {down}, {downwards},
{downwardly}] [ant: {up}, {up}, {up}, {up}]
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