1 A2 informal
To be suffering from an illness.
"She's been down with the flu all week and hasn't left her room."
be down with
B1 informal transitive
To be ill with a particular sickness; or in informal slang, to approve of or be enthusiastic about something.
In plain English
To be sick with something, OR (in slang) to be totally okay with something or really like it.
What does "be down with" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B1 idiomatic slang
(Slang) To agree with, approve of, or feel enthusiastic about something.
"If you want to go to the late-night showing, I'm totally down with that."
“
Are you down with O.P.P.?
— Naughty by Nature, 'O.P.P.' (song), 1991
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To be brought down (low) by something, or to be on the same level as something.
Actually means
To be sick with something, OR (in slang) to be totally okay with something or really like it.
Usage tip
The illness sense is neutral and widely understood. The slang sense ('I'm down with that') became popular through hip-hop culture in the 1990s and is widely used in American English, particularly among younger speakers.
Words that pair with "be down with"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
flu cold fever that it plan
How to conjugate "be down with"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
be down with
I/you/we/they
3rd person
is down with
he/she/it
Past simple
was/were down with
yesterday
Past participle
been down with
have + pp
-ing form
being down with
continuous
Hear "be down with" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "be down with" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
Keep exploring
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