live down en · VERB
Meanings
-
(informal) To live so as to subdue or refute.
Local opinion held Mr. Underwood to be an intense, profane little man, whose father in a fey fit of humor christened Braxton Bragg, a name Mr. Underwood had done his best to live down.
1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:to live down slander
-
(idiomatic, in the negative) To cause others to forget about something embarrassing that happened to oneself.
I'll never be able to live down that time my pants fell down at the school dance.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| lives down | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| living down | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| lived down | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| lived down | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Translations (2)
es lograr que se olvide (live so as to subdue) · fi elää läpi (live so as to subdue)