down the road

prepositional phrase

Further along, in terms of time or progress.

“There's a shop down the road that sells a few basic necessities.”

Similar
down the linedown the tracklater on
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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticFurther along, in terms of time or progress.

    They decided to save money by using the cheapest components available, but down the road they ran into problems with reliability.

    3 more examples

    Sometimes I go to the bars and see these kids and think about the meaninglessness and the emptiness that they'll be feeling five or six years down the road when they're tired of partying.

    1980 December 6, Cindy Rizzo, Nancy Toder, “Jewish, Lesbian, Feminist, Psychologist, Author—All of the above and more”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 20, page 8

    Ten years down the road: car giant foresees the non-polluting, accident-proof saloon [title]

    2006 March 31, David Gow, “Ten years down the road: car giant foresees the non-polluting, accident-proof saloon”, in The Guardian

    Although the precision medicine initiative will probably yield its greatest benefits years down the road, there should be some notable near-term successes.

    2015 February 26, Francis S. Collins, Harold Varmus, “A New Initiative on Precision Medicine”, in The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 372, number 9, →DOI, page 795

    Synonyms: down the line, down the track, later on

  2. slangDismissed; fired from one's employment.

    Those dudes framed a full side wall a foot too high and it was clearly marked on the layout. They got sent down the road — and deserved it.

    1977, Mother Jones Magazine, volume 2, number 4, page 65
    1 more example

    […] not only did he observe Doran and Angle drinking beer during the lunch, but also he said right then to both, "Look don't do it in front of me. I just got up here. It's company policy, you know. Any other time you're going to be sent down the road."

    1989, United States. National Labor Relations Board, Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board, page 517
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see down, road.

    There's a shop down the road that sells a few basic necessities.

Synonyms & antonyms

prepositional phraseFurther along, in terms of time or progress.

Similar
down the linedown the tracklater on
Also see
down the linedown the trackdown the way

Translations

Polish w przyszłości, potem
  • w przyszłościfurther along
  • potemfurther along
  • późniejfurther along
  • po drugiej stronie ulicyliterally
Spanish más adelante en “la misma”/“esta” carretera (misma), carretera abajo
  • más adelante en “la misma”/“esta” carretera (misma)literally
  • carretera abajoliterally
Cite this entry
APA

down the road. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/down%20the%20road

MLA

“down the road.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/down%20the%20road. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “down the road,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/down%20the%20road.

Source: down the road on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.