come down
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb (intransitive):
- To move from a higher to a lower place or position; to descend. This is the most literal meaning, often used for people, objects, or things like rain or snow.
- To fall or collapse. This can refer to structures or, figuratively, to a person's emotional or physical state.
- To be reduced or simplified to a core element; to amount to. This figurative meaning describes the essence or final result of something complex.
- To criticize or reprimand harshly. This figurative usage means to express strong disapproval, often from a position of authority.
- To become ill, especially with a common sickness. This informal meaning indicates the onset of an illness.
Usage Examples
- Literal Descent:
- The helicopter will come down in that field.
- Wait for the elevator to come down to the ground floor.
- Falling or Collapsing:
- Several trees came down in the storm last night.
- Her smile came down when she heard the bad news.
- Being Reduced to an Essence:
- All his arguments come down to a fear of change.
- The recipe comes down to using fresh, high-quality ingredients.
- Harsh Criticism:
- The manager came down hard on the team for missing the deadline.
- The editorial came down severely on the government's new policy.
- Becoming Ill:
- I think I'm coming down with a cold.
- She came down with the flu and had to stay in bed.
Advanced Usage
- "to come down in the world": to lose one's social status or financial position.
- After the business failed, he really came down in the world.
- "to come down on the side of (someone/something)": to decide to support a particular person, group, or opinion.
- After much deliberation, the judge came down on the side of the plaintiff.
- "to come down to earth": to return to reality or normal life after a period of excitement or fantasy; to be practical.
- After winning the lottery, it took him months to come down to earth.
Variants and Related Words
- Come-down (noun): A feeling of disappointment or depression after excitement; a loss of status.
- Finishing the project was a real come-down after all the adrenaline.
- Descend (verb): A more formal synonym for the literal meaning of moving downward.
- Condescend (verb): To behave as if one is superior to others. (Note: This is related but has a distinct, often negative, meaning).
Synonyms
- Descend: To move or fall downward.
- Fall: To drop or descend under the force of gravity.
- Criticize: To indicate the faults of someone or something in a disapproving way.
- Boil down to: To be summarized as; to amount to.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Come down on: To criticize or punish severely. (This is the same as the "harsh criticism" definition).
- The principal came down on the students for vandalism.
- Come down with: To begin to suffer from an illness.
- Half the office came down with food poisoning.
- Come down from: To feel the after-effects of a drug; or, less commonly, to descend from a place.
- He was coming down from a caffeine high.
Related Idioms
- Come down like a ton of bricks: To criticize or punish someone very severely.
- If you're late again, the boss will come down on you like a ton of bricks.
- Come down to us: To be passed on through history or tradition.
- This ancient tale has come down to us through many generations.
Verb
- criticize or reprimand harshly
- The critics came down hard on the new play
- get sick
- She fell sick last Friday, and now she is in the hospital
- fall from clouds
- rain, snow and sleet were falling
- Vesuvius precipitated its fiery, destructive rage on Herculaneum
- be the essential element
- The proposal boils down to a compromise
- move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
- The temperature is going down
- The barometer is falling
- The curtain fell on the diva
- Her hand went up and then fell again