downwind

[ doun-wind ]

adverb

1. in the direction toward which the wind is blowing:

   We coasted downwind.

2. on or toward the lee side:

   The lion was running downwind of us and caught our scent.

adjective

1. moving downwind:

   a downwind current.

2. situated on or toward the lee side:

   The downwind halyard blew outboard.

downwind

/ ˈdaʊnˈwɪnd /

adverb

1. in the same direction towards which the wind is blowing; with the wind from behind
2. towards or on the side away from the wind; leeward

Word History and Origins

Origin of downwind¹

First recorded in 1850–55; down ¹ + wind ¹

Example Sentences

“Different communities are going to get hit by this stuff depending on if they’re downwind of the fires or not,” Wexler said.

From Washington Post

As winds push the forming clouds, those rains tend to fall slightly downwind of the city center.

From Science News For Students

Now, a coalition of advocacy groups there has collected dozens of additional accounts from residents — many of whom live miles downwind from the refinery — saying they have had trouble breathing since Limetree reopened in February.

From Washington Post

“The fumes are inescapable in the areas downwind from the refinery, even with closed doors and windows, and I’m hearing desperation from people who don’t know what to do and frustration at the lack of answers or relief,” she said.

From Washington Post

If you were downwind of somebody for an hour and they were talking to you and the wind was blowing in your face, maybe.

From Voice of San Diego

Americans learned to look at a smokestack and see dying trees and fish downwind.

From The Daily Beast

Poison comes out of a smokestack and, downwind, birds fall from the sky.

From The Daily Beast

And honestly, sitting downwind of the dogs, I'd realized my theory of the odorless wintertime Arctic didn't always hold.

From The Daily Beast

After that the unicorns learned to swing downwind from any lone woods goats.

From Project Gutenberg

Two unicorns were grazing in between and the hunters were swinging downwind from them.

From Project Gutenberg

But they were downwind from it and it went elsewhere in search of prey.

From Project Gutenberg

Something lifted forward and fled downwind like a broken-winged red and white bird.

From Project Gutenberg

They fastened the dogs in a clump of dwarfed spruce and built a small fire on the downwind side of the trees.

From Project Gutenberg