▪ I. downy, a.1
(ˈdaʊnɪ)
[f. down n.1 + -y1.]
Of the nature of a down; characterized by downs.
| 1671 St. Foine Improved 8 The Downy and dry parts of England and Wales. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) III. 817 The land..was of the downy kind, without a single tree. 1867 Motley Corr. 20 Aug., A rolling, downy country. |
▪ II. downy, a.2
(ˈdaʊnɪ)
[f. down n.2 + -y1.]
1. a. Of the nature of or like down; feathery, fluffy.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. xiv. 566 The flowers of milke Thistel..change into rounde cotton or downie bawles. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 79 On his tender lips the downy heare Did..freshly spring. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 32 There lyes a dowlney feather, which stirres not. 1742 Young Nt. Th. i. 4 Sleep..Swift on his downy Pinion flies. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxvi. 85 Thick downy feathers, taken from the breasts of various birds. |
b. downy mildew: a disease of plants caused by parasitic fungi of the order Peronosporales.
| 1886 Bull. Bot. Div. U.S. Dept. Agric. II. 7 (title) Fungous diseases of the grape vine. I. The downy mildew. 1909 B. M. Duggar Fungous Dis. Plants x. 152 The downy mildew of the grape is one of the most important disease-producing organisms among the Peronosporaceæ. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Feb. 157/1 Downy mildew (Perono-plasmopara cubensis)..appears as more or less angular, yellowish spots on the leaves, on the undersides of which a scanty white downy growth develops. 1970 Times 14 July 10/6 The aim was to produce a variety resistant to downy mildew. |
2. Made or consisting of down.
| a 1592 Greene Alphonsus iv. Wks. (Rtldg.) 243 Mars lies slumbering on his downy bed. 1712–4 Pope Rape Lock i. 19 Belinda still her downy pillow prest. 1820 Sporting Mag. VI. 79 The morning was truly forbidding for the swells to leave their downy dabs. |
3. a. Covered or clothed with down.
| 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 56 So doth the Swan her downie Signets saue. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ii. 72 For downy Peaches and the glossie Plum. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Peonie, The Leaves are indented, downy on the Backside. 1837 Lytton E. Maltrav. 20 Happiness and health bloomed on her downy cheeks. |
b. Hence in specific names of plants, as downy ling, downy oat, downy willow, etc.
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes (1881) 81 It [Clematis Vitalba] may be called in Englishe Heguine, or Downiuine. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 193 Downy Woundwort. |
c. downy woodpecker, a small species of North American woodpecker, Dendrocopos pubescens.
| 1808 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. I. 153 Downy Woodpecker. Picus Pubescens...is the smallest of our Woodpeckers. 1872 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. 321 The Downy Woodpecker (Picus pubescens, Linn.) a black and white bird, usually not over six inches long. 1948 Pacific Discovery Mar.–Apr. 18/1 A harsh spick! note tells of a downy woodpecker in the neighborhood. 1964 J. Bull Birds N.Y. Area ii. 289 The Downy Woodpecker nests in open woodland, orchards, suburbs, and city parks. 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 13 June 13/3 There are the..downy woodpecker, flicker woodpecker, [etc.]. |
4. transf. and fig. Down-like, soft as down.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. ii. Wks. 1856 I. 108 Ile..couch my heade in downie moulde. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 81 Shake off this Downey sleepe, Deaths counterfeit. 1742 Young Nt. Th. v. 397 Time steals on with downy Feet. 1839 Bailey Festus (1854) 391 A warmer beauty and a downier depth. |
5. slang. [with sense from down adv. 22.] Wide-awake, ‘knowing’.
| 1821 Egan Tom & Jerry (1890) 95 (Farmer) Mr. Mace had long been christened by the downies, the ‘dashing covey’. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 379 The president must be considered a downy one. 1837 Thackeray Yellowplush i. (1887) 14 I'm generally considered tolerably downy. 1873 M. E. Braddon Str. & Pilgr. iii. v, Hilda, you're the downiest bird—I beg your pardon, the cleverest woman I ever met with. |
6. Comb., as downy-cheeked, downy-clad, downy-feathered, downy-fruited, downy-sprouting, downy-winged adjs.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iii. Colonies 42 The feeble downie-feathered Young. 1606 Ibid. ii. iv. ii. Magnificence 698 Some douny-clad, some (fledger) take a twig To pearch-upon, some hop from sprig to sprig. 1791 Cowper Iliad ix. 553 To make me downy-cheek'd as in my youth. 1815 Shelley Demon of World 23 Downy-winged slumbers. |
▪ III. downy, n. slang.
(ˈdaʊnɪ)
Also downey.
[f. downy a.2]
A bed; so to do the downy, to lie in bed. Cf. downy a.2 2 (and quot. 1605 for sense 4).
| 1846 Swell's Night Guide 117/2 Dab, a letter, doss, downey, bed. 1847 W. T. Porter Quarter Race Kentucky 58 The candidate yawned, looked at his bed,..finally..seating himself upon ‘the downy’. 1854 ‘C. Bede’ Further Adv. V. Green vii. 59 This'll never do..! Cutting chapel to do the downy! 1858 Trollope Three Clerks I. ix. 181 I've a deal to do before I get to my downy. 1868 ― He Knew (1869) I. xlv. 347 The Colonel was lodged safe in his downey. 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands ix. 118 Er pair iv boots was stickin' out conspicuous et one end iv ther downy. 1968 Gloss. Brit. Argot (Paramount Pictures), Do the downy, remain in bed. |