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down payment
noun
: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the balance to be paid later
broadly
: the first step in a process
Examples of down payment in a Sentence
She made a 10 percent down payment on the car.
We put a down payment on the house.
Recent Examples on the Web
The bank’s Lift Up Homeownership Program is meant to help first-time homebuyers who are Black, Latino, Native American, Asian or native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander make a down payment on a home.
—
Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 27 Jan. 2025
Giving them so much money and time has resulted in me not having enough for a down payment for my own home, despite being reasonably successful.
—
R. Eric Thomas, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2025
Even with a down payment secured with the sale of Mr. Kinney’s Clark home, the couple began to doubt their chances after visiting more than a dozen listings.
—
Addie Morfoot, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
Keep in mind that a larger down payment can lower your monthly mortgage payments, increase your home equity and get you out of paying private mortgage insurance sooner.
—
Kelsey Neubauer, CNBC, 23 Jan. 2025
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Word History
First Known Use
1854, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near down payment
Cite this Entry
“Down payment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/down%20payment. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
Kids Definition
down payment
noun
: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the remainder to be paid later
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