downstairs

[ adverb noun doun-stairz; adjective doun-stairz ]

adverb

1. down the stairs.
2. to or on a lower floor.

adjective

1. Also downstair. pertaining to or situated on a lower floor, especially the ground floor.

noun

1. (used with a singular verb) the lower floor or floors of a building:

   The downstairs is being painted.

2. the stairway designated for use by people descending:

   Don't try to go up the downstairs.

downstairs

/ ˈdaʊnˈstɛəz /

adverb

1. down the stairs; to or on a lower floor

noun

1. 1. a lower or ground floor
   2. ( as modifier )

      a downstairs room

2. informal.
   the servants of a household collectively Compare upstairs

Word History and Origins

Origin of downstairs¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; down ¹ + stair + -s ³

Example Sentences

At least once a month, my mother would pull birds of paradise from the downstairs bush, arrange them like so, place them in a vase and position the flowers as a centerpiece in the living room atop our mahogany coffee table.

From Los Angeles Times

“We swapped details and saw each other later that night. It was all normal,” Paiz said, adding that Payne fetched him from downstairs at the Park Hyatt Palermo after he got lost.

From Los Angeles Times

A few hours later, at 4 a.m., her mother went downstairs to use the bathroom.

From Los Angeles Times

"Quite a few times they themselves had to go downstairs to the shelter in the hotel they stayed at," he says.

From BBC

As she went downstairs she could see her mother with her hand on the front door as if trying to close it and a "gun tip" poking through the open door.

From BBC

Related Words

• basement
• canvas
• carpet
• deck
• flooring
• ground
• mat
• rug
• stage