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let down

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: let-down and letdown

English

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Pronunciation

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  • Audio (Australia):(file)

Verb

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let down (third-person singular simple present lets down, present participle letting down, simple past and past participle let down)

  1. (transitive, idiomatic) To disappoint; to betray or fail somebody.
    Synonyms: cross up, dingo, sell out, stab in the back; see also Thesaurus:betray
    Antonyms: come through, keep faith; see also Thesaurus:keep faith
    I promised him I would meet him there, and I will not let him down.
    • 1978, Richard Nixon, “The Presidency 1973–1974”, in RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon‎[1], Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 1065:
      Just as they left, the younger of the two turned around and said, "Mr. President, I just want you to know that we're praying for you," and quickly closed the door behind him.
      I thought about these two men, and about the office workers that afternoon, and about the millions of others like them all across the country who still had faith in me. I knew that by resigning I would let them down.
    • 1982, DeBarge, “All This Love (DeBarge song)”, in All This Love (album):
      I had some problems and no one could seem to solve them / But you found the answer / You told me to take this chance and learn the ways of love / My baby, and all that it has to offer / In time you will see that love won't let you down.
    • 2023 April 5, “Network News: Conservatives accused of "rewarding Avanti's failure"”, in RAIL, number 980, page 6:
      ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said: "AWC has continued to cancel services and, every day, continued to let passengers down. But the Government doesn't seem to care.
  2. (transitive, clothing) To lengthen by undoing and resewing a hem.
    Antonym: take in
    Coordinate term: let out
  3. (intransitive) To reduce one's level of effort.
  4. To soften in tempering.
    to let down tools or cutlery
  5. (cooking) To thin; to reduce the thickness or viscosity of.
    let the sauce down with a little pasta water if it starts to become too thick; if the soup is too thick, you can let it down with a little milk; let the sauce down with a dash of the pickling liquor; use some of the stock to let down the onion sauce
  7. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see let,‎ down: especially, to allow to descend.
    Antonym: put up
    let down your hair;   let down a rope

Derived terms

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Translations

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