downhill

See also: Downhill

English

Etymology

From down- + hill.

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• IPA^(key): (adverb) /ˌdaʊnˈhɪl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪl

Adverb

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

1. Down a slope.

   Synonym: downslope

   Antonym: uphill

   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) So as to deteriorate or get worse.

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

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

Derived terms

• downcountry
• downhiller
• go downhill
• shit rolls downhill

Translations

down a slope

• Bulgarian: надо́лу (nadólu)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 下坡 (zh) (xiàpō)

• Dutch: bergaf (nl)
• Esperanto: deklive
• Finnish: alamäkeä (fi), alamäkeen (fi), 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
• Māori: ki raro
• Plautdietsch: boajauf
• Polish: w dół (pl)
• Portuguese: ladeira abaixo
• Romanian: la vale
• Russian: по́д гору (pód goru), вниз (ru) (vniz)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ни̏збрдо

  Latin: nȉzbrdo (sh)

• Spanish: cuesta abajo
• Tagalog: dalhak
• Yiddish: אַראָפּ־באַרג (arop-barg)

Adjective

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

1. Located towards or at the bottom of a slope or hill.

   Moraines are found at the downhill end of a glacier.

2. Going down a slope or a hill.

   This year's race is on a downhill course.

   • 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.

   That's the hard part of the job done. From now on it's downhill all the way.

4. Characterized by a style of running with a low center of gravity.

   Coordinate term: upright

   He's a downhill runner.

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 Greek: κατάντης (katántēs)

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

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.

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

English down-

English hill

English downhillubor.

Portuguese downhill

Unadapted borrowing from English downhill.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌda.ũˈʁiw/ [ˌda.ũˈhiʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌda.ũˈʁiw/ [ˌda.ũˈhiʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˌda.ũˈʁiw/ [ˌda.ũˈχiʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dawˈnil/ [dawˈniɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dawˈnil/ [dawˈniɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /dawˈni.li/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -iw, (Portugal) -il

Noun

downhill m (uncountable)

1. (cycling, skiing) downhill

   Synonym: descida livre

Further reading

• “downhill”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026

Spanish

Noun

downhill m (plural downhills)

1. downhill (skiing)