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
… she walked past us to the lab area, placed the paper face down on the table and looked back at us.David Kwiatkowski
… stood up so fast he knocked his plate of waffles facedown onto the floor.Ingrid Law
usually hyphenated before a noun
… 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

Examples of face down in a Sentence

The cards were dealt facedown. He fell facedown in the sand.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The same hot tub Perry was later that day found dead and face down in. Dominic Patten, Deadline, 27 May 2026 Samuelson was motionless, lying face down on the floor. Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 26 May 2026 The vehicles scattered as police approached, Higginson said, at which point officers located the male victim lying face down on the ground. Alexandra Simon, CBS News, 24 May 2026 Amid the screams and chaos lay Manzo, face down and bleeding. Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026 Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s defiant bid to face down a rebellion left his future in the balance Wednesday, but that wasn’t going to stop the United Kingdom playing dress-up for the ceremonial State Opening of Parliament. Alexander Smith, NBC news, 13 May 2026 Dominguez impressively held onto the ball despite the hard collision, but lay face down on the warning track. Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 7 May 2026 The screen cuts to Peppa, face down in a puddle in the centre circle. Tim Spiers, New York Times, 5 May 2026 The outlets reported, citing police, that the son discovered his mother lying face down in a pool of blood from stab wounds and his father dead in another room. Luke Chinman, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of face down was in 1818

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Face down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/face%20down. Accessed 28 May. 2026.

Kids Definition

facedown

adverb
face·​down ˈfās-ˈdau̇n How to pronounce facedown (audio)
: with the face down
floated facedown
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