To disappoint someone by failing to do what was expected, or to lower something gradually.
To make someone sad or disappointed by not doing what you promised, or to move something slowly downward.
4 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To fail to do what someone expected, hoped for, or relied on you to do, causing disappointment.
"I promised I'd be there, and I don't want to let you down."
You have never let me down.
— Queen Elizabeth II, addressing the British public during a wartime anniversary broadcast, BBC, 1997
To lower something slowly or gradually from a higher to a lower position.
"They let down a rope ladder from the helicopter."
To allow air to escape from a tyre, making it flat.
"Someone had let down all four of his tyres overnight."
(Sewing) To extend a garment's hem so it hangs lower.
"She let down the hem of her daughter's school skirt at the start of term."
To lower something or someone down from a height.
To make someone sad or disappointed by not doing what you promised, or to move something slowly downward.
The sense of disappointing someone is extremely common. Often used with 'feel' in the passive: 'I felt let down.' The noun 'letdown' (one word) means a disappointment. The sewing sense (lengthening a hem) is more specific.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
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