Dictionary

let-down en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈlɛtdaʊn/ (UK)

Etymology

Deverbal from let down.

Meanings

1. (countable) A disappointment or anticlimax.
   • After seeing all the advertisements, the show itself was quite a let-down.
   • Journalists aside, are we so used to people looking glossier and younger in their profile photos—whether on social media or for work—that a certain percentage of “let-down” is baked into our expectations of meeting them in person? 2023 November 25, Rebecca Rose, “How old is too old for a profile pic?”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 22:
2. (countable, uncountable) The neurohormonal release of milk in dairy cows or in breastfeeding human mothers.
   • Occasionally a baby will be caught off-guard by mother's strong let-down and he will choke and sputter a bit. 2004, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, 7th edition, Penguin, page 54:
   • The majority of peasant farmers in the tropics allow the calf to suckle before milking in order to obtain a let-down of milk. 1990, WJA Payne, An Introduction to Animal Husbandry in the Tropics:
   • Through oxytocin mediation, these afferent pathways become so well established that letdown can occur even when the mother merely thinks of her baby. 2010, Jan Riordan, Karen Wamback, Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, 4th edition, Jones & Bartlett, page 91:
3. (countable, uncountable) The clearance of an aircraft to descend through clouds to clear air below, or the process of granting such a clearance.
   • The flight received a radar letdown from air traffic control.

Forms

Relateds

let down

Translations (25)

pl zawód (disappointment or anticlimax) · gl desilusión (disappointment or anticlimax) · fr montée de lait (release of milk) · gl desengano (disappointment or anticlimax) · es decepción (disappointment or anticlimax) · es chasco (disappointment or anticlimax) · fr déception (disappointment or anticlimax) · ru прова́л (disappointment or anticlimax) · gl desencanto (disappointment or anticlimax) · pt decepção (disappointment or anticlimax) · pl wypływ (release of milk) · gl decepción (disappointment or anticlimax) · de Enttäuschung (disappointment or anticlimax) · it delusione (disappointment or anticlimax) · sv besvikelse (disappointment or anticlimax) · ru крах (disappointment or anticlimax) · mk разочарување (disappointment or anticlimax) · gl chasco (disappointment or anticlimax) · hu csalódás (disappointment or anticlimax) · fi maidontulo (release of milk) · ru обло́м (disappointment or anticlimax) · ru разочарова́ние (disappointment or anticlimax) · bg разочарование (disappointment or anticlimax) · it smacco (disappointment or anticlimax) · fi pettymys (disappointment or anticlimax)