【come down】 —

1. collapse; fall:

• Several trees came down in last night’s storm.

2. (of a plane) be destroyed:

• Three of the enemy planes came down in the battle.

3. (of a plane) land:

• The plane came down safely in spite of the mist.

4. (of prices) be reduced:

• Prices are much more likely to go up than to 【come down】 .

5. (of wind) subside:

• We had very nice sailing for two hours then the wind came down and we had to start motorsailing.

6. be inherited:

• This ring has 【come down】 in my family for two centuries.

7. become or be considered less valuable:

• John really came down in my opinion after that.

8. (U.S. coll.) happen; take place:

• When something like this comes down, I have to stop and think things over.

【go down】 —

1. = 【come down】 1:

• The man slipped on the ice and went down heavily.

2. (of the sun) set:

• As the sun went down the whole sky became suffused with a red glow.

3. (of a vessel) sink; drown:

• The ship struck a hidden reef and went down with all hands.

4. = 【come down】 4:

• It’s a strange thing, but prices never 【go down】 .

5. = 【come down】 5:

• If the wind doesn’t 【go down】 before three o’clock, we won’t be able to take off today.

6. be reduced in amount:

• If our stocks of food 【go down】 much further, we shall have a hard winter.

7. suffer a decline in quality or appearance:

• The neighborhood has gone down since those rough people moved in.

8. be recorded:

• Everything you say will 【go down】 in our records.

9. (of a speech, performance, etc.) be accepted; be received:

• How did your speech 【go down】 ?

10. fail; be defeated:

• One of my best students went down in the examination!

11. (of food or medicine) be swallowed:

• The medicine went down without any trouble at all.

12. = 【come down】 8:

• Something strange is going down around here.

See also: go below / go under.