down but not out
/ˈdaʊn bət nɑt ˈaʊt/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.66 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Temporarily incapacitated but not permanently defeated.
Example Sentences
- "He raised dim eyes to her, eyes that seemed already filmed with death's opaque curtains, but bravely, slowly smiled. "I'm down, but not out, darlin'. That brute of a doctor jolted me hard; I nearly took the count—but I'm—still in the ring.[…]""
- "The intention is not to make it a hotel for downs and outs, the riffraff of Chicago’s slums, but to have it a hotel where men who are ‘down’ but not ‘out’ can obtain comfortable rooms and wholesome food at nominal prices."
- "By midnight, two hours after the polls had closed, the first results showed a massive 10 per cent swing right across the country. […] A defeated David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, left the count down but not out."
Etymology
A reference to the sport of boxing, where a boxer has been incapacitated by an opponent but not yet knocked out.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdaʊn bət nɑt ˈaʊt/
- British English: /ˈdaʊn bət nɒt ˈaʊt/