down payment

noun

Synonyms of down paymentnext
: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the balance to be paid later
broadly : the first step in a process

Examples of down payment in a Sentence

She made a 10 percent down payment on the car. We put a down payment on the house.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Buying a home already means saving for a down payment, shopping for a good mortgage rate and covering closing costs. — Sharon Wu, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026 People who earn 50% of the AMI or less can qualify for a $2,500 closing credit that can be put toward closing costs or a down payment — the credit is funded and offered by Fannie Mae and is available to everyone regardless of lender. — Kelsey Neubauer, CNBC, 12 Aug. 2026 Rhiannon Do received a high-paying job at Viet America Society plus $350,000 for a down payment on a $1 million North Tustin home. — Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 12 Aug. 2026 Rebuild Illinois was a down payment on decades of deferred maintenance, not the final payment. — Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for down payment

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of down payment was in 1854

Rhymes for down payment

See All Rhymes for down payment

Browse Nearby Words

Downpatrick
down payment
downpipe
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Cite this Entry

“Down payment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/down%20payment. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

down payment

noun
: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the remainder to be paid later

More from Merriam-Webster on down payment

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for down payment

Nglish: Translation of down payment for Spanish Speakers

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