A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

come down • go down
come down —
1
. collapse; fall: Several trees came down in
last night’s storm. 2. (of a plane) be destroyed: Three of the
enemy planes came down in the battle. 3. (of a plane) land:
The plane came down safely in spite of the mist. 4. (of prices)
be reduced: Prices are much more likely to go up than to come
down. 5. (of wind) subside: We had very nice sailing for two
hours then the wind came down and we had to start motor-
sailing. 6. be inherited: This ring has come down in my family
for two centuries. 7. become or be considered less valuable:
John really came down in my opinion after that. 8. (U.S. coll.)
happen; take place: When something like this comes down, I
have to stop and think things over.
go down —
1
. = come down 
1
: The man slipped on the ice and
went down heavily. 2. (of the sun) set: As the sun went down
the whole sky became suffused with a red glow. 3. (of a vessel)
sink; drown: The ship struck a hidden reef and went down
with all hands. 4. = come down 4: It’s a strange thing, but
prices never go down. 5. = come down 5: If the wind doesn’t
go down before three o’clock, we won’t be able to take off
today. 6. be reduced in amount: If our stocks of food go down
much further, we shall have a hard winter. 7. suffer a decline
in quality or appearance: The neighborhood has gone down
since those rough people moved in. 8. be recorded: Everything
you say will go down in our records. 9. (of a speech, perform-
ance, etc.) be accepted; be received: How did your speech go
down? 
1
0. fail; be defeated: One of my best students went
down in the examination! 
11
. (of food or medicine) be swal-
lowed: The medicine went down without any trouble at all.
1
2. = come down 8: Something strange is going down around
here.
See also: go below / go under.
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