face down
adjective or adverb
variants
or less commonly face-down
or facedown
: with the face down
He was face down on the bed. = He was lying face down on the bed.
Two cards are dealt face down to each player, then the first round of bets is made.—
Thomas L. Clark
Thomas L. Clark… she walked past us to the lab area, placed the paper face down on the table and looked back at us.—David Kwiatkowski
David Kwiatkowski… stood up so fast he knocked his plate of waffles facedown onto the floor.—Ingrid Law
—usually hyphenated before a nounIngrid Law… an alternate paper path has been added to turn out face-down copies in proper order, so they don't have to be collated manually.—William J. Lynott
William J. LynottExamples of face down in a Sentence
The cards were dealt facedown.
He fell facedown in the sand.
Recent Examples on the Web
One of the positions that officers have been trained to restrain suspects in is the prone position: putting them face down, before forcing their arms behind their back and handcuffing them.
—Sam Eagan, New Yorker, 29 July 2025
The owner of a marina bar near the location where Heinz's body was spotted told Fox News Digital the young fisherman found the body face down and wrapped in duckweed.
—Alexandra Koch , Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 24 July 2025
His body was found floating face down in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home.
—Jack Hannah, CNN Money, 23 July 2025
Jones died face down beside an SUV with blood coming out of his head.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 July 2025
Fredrick came out of the room and walked toward Thomas, who was lying face down on the ground, and shot him a few more times in the head, Mock told police.
—Kristine Phillips, IndyStar, 3 July 2025
The men ordered the couple to lie face down, then began opening fire.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
The clock is face down on a pile of birthday cards, all marked ‘Return to sender’ in my daughter Aisha’s handwriting.
—Literary Hub, 11 July 2025
Even just putting it in a drawer or turning it face down can break the cycle of constant checking.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Sam Eagan, New Yorker, 29 July 2025
The owner of a marina bar near the location where Heinz's body was spotted told Fox News Digital the young fisherman found the body face down and wrapped in duckweed.
—Alexandra Koch , Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 24 July 2025
His body was found floating face down in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home.
—Jack Hannah, CNN Money, 23 July 2025
Jones died face down beside an SUV with blood coming out of his head.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 July 2025
Fredrick came out of the room and walked toward Thomas, who was lying face down on the ground, and shot him a few more times in the head, Mock told police.
—Kristine Phillips, IndyStar, 3 July 2025
The men ordered the couple to lie face down, then began opening fire.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
The clock is face down on a pile of birthday cards, all marked ‘Return to sender’ in my daughter Aisha’s handwriting.
—Literary Hub, 11 July 2025
Even just putting it in a drawer or turning it face down can break the cycle of constant checking.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Face down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/face%20down. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
facedown
adverb
face·down
ˈfās-ˈdau̇n 
: with the face down
floated facedown
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