face down

1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of face-down.

1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of face-down.

present singular third person faces down · participle present facing down · participle past faced down · past faced down

1. idiomatictransitiveTo confront; to abash by stern looks.

   That old philosopher grew cross, / Who could not tell what motion was; / Because he walked against his will, / He faced men down, that he stood still.

   1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   An already febrile atmosphere within the ground before the start had been stoked still further when France's players formed an arrow formation to face down the haka, and then advanced slowly over halfway as the capacity crowd roared.

   2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport

2. archaictransitiveTo persist in confronting impudently.