downing

Pluraldownings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of down.

   Downing his drink in one swallow, he slammed the glass on the bar.

   The defense kept downing the quarterback before he could throw.

   Note

   One -ing spelling does two grammatical jobs here: participle in "was downing the plane", verbal noun in "downing it was easy". Either way it nearly always takes an object, since the intransitive "descend" use is obsolete. Watch the boundary with the noun for a single occasion, which shares the spelling. The gerund takes a direct object (downing the aircraft), while the noun takes "the" and "of" and can be pluralized (the downing of the aircraft, two downings).

2. 2
   nouncountable

   An instance in which something is brought down or swallowed.

   The downing of the reconnaissance aircraft escalated tensions between the two nations.

   His rapid downing of three pints earned him the bar's record.

   Note

   A word at home in military and news reporting, where the thing downed is usually an aircraft. It counts readily and often follows another noun: Michael R. Gordon's 2007 report "Planning Seen in Iraqi Attacks on U.S. Copters" speaks of "several recent helicopter downings." That pattern, with the aircraft type in front and a plural behind, is the natural way to tally such events without repeating "the downing of" each time.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A defeat, especially in a contest or competition.

   The champion's downing at the hands of an unranked challenger stunned the crowd.

   Their first downing of the season came in an away match.

   Similardefeat, loss, beating

   Oppositevictory, win, triumph

   Note

   Sports writing borrows the verb's figurative "defeat" use and turns it into a noun for a result. In this construction, "of" introduces the beaten side. Delme Parfitt's 2013 report on Cardiff City's 1–0 win over Swansea City calls it "a downing of fierce rivals." The winner usually sits outside the phrase, as the home side or the subject of the sentence. To keep the loser up front, use "at the hands of" instead.

Showing meanings only. Show all 3