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"

From a higher place to a lower; in a descending course; as, to tend, move, roll, look, or take root, downward or downwards.

From a higher to a lower condition; toward misery, humility, disgrace, or ruin.

From a remote time; from an ancestor or predecessor; from one to another in a descending line.

Moving or tending down as regards place, or inclination, or condition; depressed; dejected.

In a direction from a higher place; from a source; from an ancestor; from an earlier time or a higher position; at the lower extremitics.

One was the passage downwards towards the Garden of Eden. – They Twinkled Like Jewels by Philip José Farmer

Then the bark is gently raised on each side downwards from this cross- cut, with the flat handle of the knife. – Roses and Rose Growing by Rose Georgina Kingsley

Matters look squally ahead, no hay, and grass not an ell high, and growing downwards at that. – Journal of a Trip to California by the Overland Route Across the Plains in 1850-51 by E. S. (Eleazer Stillman) Ingalls

The pictures they painted were flat, not round as a figure should be, and very often the feet did not look as if they were standing on the ground at all, but pointed downwards as if they were hanging in the air. – Knights of Art Stories of the Italian Painters by Amy Steedman

In a private letter to King he described what had happened as a " childish ceremony," which had been made more ridiculous " from the manner in which the flag was placed, the head being downwards and the attitude not very majestic. – Terre Napoleon A history of French explorations and projects in Australia by Ernest Scott

He moved back to their resting- place without another word, and flung himself face downwards beside the nest of fern that he had made for her, lying stretched at full length like a log. – The Way of an Eagle by Ethel M. Dell

But Stonecrop after scrambling up for a little way deliberately came back to the water and followed it downwards sometimes in the bed of the stream, sometimes on the bank by the side; and Dick let him go, feeling confident that the pony knew better than he. – The Drummer's Coat by J. W. Fortescue

The question has been approached from the wrong end; we have looked from above downwards from the latest stages of life back to the beginning, instead of from the beginning on to the end. – The Truth About Woman by C. Gasquoine Hartley

She was obliged, however, at last to strike downwards and with regret she left the sunshine behind. – The Knave of Diamonds by Ethel May Dell

The rest fall on the trees, the leaves of which being generally inclined towards the horizon, reflect the rays downwards – Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson by Thomas Jefferson

A painting of her mother that had hung over her bed was now lying face downwards on the floor. – By What Authority? by Robert Hugh Benson

3. Carry the body face downwards with the head gently raised, and never hold it up by the feet. – One Thousand Secrets of Wise and Rich Men Revealed by C. A. Bogardus

They seldom went downwards towards the poor, from whom the well- to- do- people are separated by their manner of life, and whom they do not know under their best aspects, in their every- day life. – Mutual Aid A Factor of Evolution by kniaz' Petr Alekseevich Kropotkin

As, no doubt, some of the men are honest, and might feel hurt at having their houses searched, I have thought that the best way to prevent any unpleasant feeling is to begin at the top of the free and go downwards – The Iron Horse by R.M. Ballantyne

There is not a single composition of the first rank outside of science, from the Bible downwards that could undergo the test. – Rousseau Volumes I. and II. by John Morley

Coolly he tightened the grip of his left arm about the knob of ice, and drawing himself forward a little, so that his neck and part of his chest were over the edge, reached his right hand downwards – Love Eternal by H. Rider Haggard

Beyond her Sir Charles Venner lay face downwards on the floor. – First Person Paramount by Ambrose Pratt

Did the boats come before or after the colours were hoisted union downwards to render her assistance? – Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez, Vol. I by Sir John Ross

As the knees come finally down, the elbows pass the sides, and the shoulders move back and downwards – Rowing by Rudolf Chambers Lehmann