downhill

See also: Downhill

English

Etymology

down- +‎ hill

Pronunciation

• (adjective, noun) IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊnˌhɪl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌdaʊnˈhɪl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪl

Adverb

downhill (comparative farther or further downhill, superlative farthest or furthest downhill)

1. Down a slope.

   Synonym: downslope

   Because we got to the summit of the mountain, we could only go downhill from there.

   • 2006, Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 388:

     I worked my way downhill, slip sliding in the mud along a steep embankment that followed a stream until it emptied into a creek.

2. (by extension) Deteriorating, getting worse.

   Hyponyms: down the drain, down the tubes; down the toilet (crude)

   After Don made those tasteless remarks, our relationship with him went downhill.

Antonyms

• uphill

Derived terms

• go downhill
• shit rolls downhill

 

Translations

down a slope

• Bulgarian: надо́лу (nadólu)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 下坡 (zh) (xiàpō)

• Dutch: bergaf (nl)
• Finnish: alamäkeä, alamäkeen, alamäessä (fi), alas (fi), alhaalla (fi)
• French: en aval (fr)
• Georgian: დაღმართი (daɣmarti)
• German: bergab (de)
• Italian: in discesa
• Japanese: 下り坂 (ja) (くだりざか, kudarizaka)
• Latin: prōclīvī
• Maori: ki raro
• Plautdietsch: boajauf
• Polish: w dół (pl)
• Portuguese: ladeira abaixo
• Romanian: la vale, în aval
• Russian: по́д гору (ru) (pód goru), вниз (ru) (vniz)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ни̏збрдо

  Roman: nȉzbrdo (sh)

• Spanish: cuesta abajo
• Tagalog: dalhak

Adjective

downhill (comparative further downhill, superlative furthest downhill)

1. Located down a slope or hill.
2. Going down a slope or a hill.
   • 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 706:

     It was nearly all downhill into Shrewsbury, with two intermediate stops, and a grand sequence of long curves around which Soult nuzzled her way with a quick side-to-side action.

3. (by extension) Easy.

Usage notes

• "Easy" sense: comparative and superlative are usually made with more and most.

Antonyms

• uphill

Derived terms

• downhill creep
• downhill ice cross
• downhill-ski
• downhill skier
• downhill skiing
• have the world by the tail on a downhill pull

 

Translations

located down a slope

• Bulgarian: долен (bg) (dolen)
• Finnish: alamäessä (fi), alhaalla (fi)
• Georgian: დაღმართი (daɣmarti)
• Greek:

  Ancient: κατάντης (katántēs)

• Latin: dēclīvis, prōclīvis
• Norwegian: i en skråning
• Tamil: சரிவில் (carivil)

going down a slope

• Bulgarian: нанадолен (nanadolen)
• Finnish: alamäkeen (fi), alas (fi)
• Latin: dēclīvis, dēvexus
• Norwegian: kjøre utfor
• Russian: спуска́ющийся (ru) (spuskájuščijsja)
• Tagalog: dalhak

easy — see easy

Noun

downhill (countable and uncountable, plural downhills)

1. (uncountable) The fastest of the disciplines of alpine skiing.
2. (countable) A rapid descent of a hill in related sports, especially in alpine skiing.

Derived terms

• icecross downhill

 

Translations

discipline of alpine skiing

• Bulgarian: спускане (bg) n (spuskane)
• Dutch: afdaling (nl) f
• Estonian: kiirlaskumine
• Finnish: syöksylasku (fi)
• French: descente (fr) f
• Georgian: სწრაფდაშვება (sc̣rapdašveba)
• German: Abfahrt (de) f
• Italian: discesa libera f
• Norwegian: utfor m
• Romanian: coborâre (ro) f
• Spanish: descenso (es) m, prueba de descenso f
• Swedish: störtlopp (sv) n

alpine skiing — see alpine skiing

Verb

downhill (third-person singular simple present downhills, present participle downhilling, simple past and past participle downhilled)

1. To take part in downhill skiing.

Spanish

Noun

downhill m (plural downhills)

1. downhill (skiing)