From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgo down phrasal verb1 get lowerLESS to become lower in level, amount etc His income went down last year. Computers have gone down in price.go down by 10%/250/$900 etc Spending has gone down by 2%.2 standardWORSE if something goes down, its quality or standard gets worse This neighbourhood has really gone down in the last few years.3 go down well/badly/a treat etcLIKE somebody OR somethingDON'T LIKE a) to get a particular reaction from someone His suggestion did not go down very well. The movie went down very well in America. The speech went down a treat with members (=members liked it very much). The idea went down like a lead balloon (=was not popular or successful). b) if food or drink goes down well, you enjoy it I’m not that hungry so a salad would go down nicely.4 go from one place to anotherTRAVEL to go from one place to another, especially to a place that is further south to We’re going down to Bournemouth for the weekend. He’s gone down to the store to get some milk.5 go down the shops/club/park etc British English spoken informal to go to the shops, a club etc Does anyone want to go down the pub tonight? 6 shipDOWN if a ship goes down, it sinks Ten men died when the ship went down.7 plane if a plane goes down, it suddenly falls to the ground An emergency call was received shortly before the plane went down.8 become less swollenSMALL to become less swollen The swelling will go down if you rest your foot.9 lose air if something that is filled with air goes down, air comes out and it becomes smaller and softer Your tyre’s gone down.10 be remembered [always + adverb/preposition]REMEMBER to be recorded or remembered in a particular way as The talks went down as a landmark in the peace process. The carnival will go down in history (=be remembered for many years) as one of the best ever. 11 competition/sport a) LOSE A GAME, COMPETITION, OR WARto lose a game, competition, or election The Hawkers went down 5–9. by The government went down by 71 votes. to Liverpool went down to Juventus. b) LOSE A GAME, COMPETITION, OR WARto move down to a lower position in an official list of teams or players to United went down to the second division.12 computerTD if a computer goes down, it stops working for a short time If one of the file servers goes down, you lose the whole network.13 lightsDARK if lights go down, they become less bright The lights went down and the curtain rose on an empty stage.14 sun when the sun goes down, it appears to move down until you cannot see it anymore15 wind if the wind goes down, it becomes less strong The wind had gone down but the night had turned chilly. 16 prison informalSCJ to be sent to prison He went down for five years.17 happen spoken informal to happen the type of guy who knows what’s going down What’s going down?18 leave university British English formal old-fashionedSEC to leave Oxford or Cambridge University at the end of a period of study → go→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
go down• You go down a steep slope, then turn left at the bottom of the hill.• Right, here's the ladder. Who's going down first?go down well/badly/a treat etc• It seems to be going down a treat.• It went down a treat with the matrons in safe seats like South-west Surrey.go to• They say I had the vanity to go down to Croisset and make an embarrassing scene on his doorstep.• If he is going down to defeat, as I suspect he is, he is doing it in style. 1.• I went down to find out what had gone wrong.• She had long blonde hair that went down to her waist.• The scar on his face went from his eye all the way down to his chin.• Dallas has gone down to second place in the NFL.• The rope went down to the bottom of the cliff.• I was planning on going down to the Castro afterwards and seeing if I could volunteer for the Gay Games.• We went down to the floor, according to the take-down training, me on top of him.• She went down to the front, or what had been the front, and stared out to sea.• I went down to the living room.• I went down to the union and they told me I got to be working before I could join the union.go down the shops/club/park etc• We went down the shops on Saturdays.go as• Riven saw a Hearthware go down as one charged and sent him flying.• That tour has, of course, gone down as the most exciting series of the century.• In a constantly shifting scene it must go down as the most important symbolic change imaginable.• Several of them said they expect that insurance premiums will go down as the number of policyholders goes up.• But he carved his place in Sooner lore and will go down as the progenitor of the Oklahoma program's rebirth.• However this can not be used as a guide to future performance as investments can go down as well as up.• To compensate the speed has to go down as well.• It goes up when you put more money into the corporation and goes down as you withdraw money from the corporation.go by• Not surprisingly, global taxes for the United Nations went down by a 70-28 margin.• That's despite profits going DOWN by a third to £778 million because of the hot weather.• The Government says they should go down by an average of £55.• Northampton, too, were missing key players, going down by five tries to a consolation one.• As a result of such improvements, customer complaints went down by more than 70 per-cent.• Gas bills cut by three percent Gas charges are going down by three percent.• Battled Wirral still await a first win but battled hard against Caldy before going down by two wickets in the last over.From Longman Business Dictionarygo down phrasal verb [intransitive]COMPUTING if a computer or machine goes down, it stops working because of a faultIf one of the file servers goes down, you lose the whole network. → go→ See Verb table 