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Glite Dictionary
🇬🇧 The UK government 🏛️ A famous street
Downing Street

Downing Street

1 3.7
A street in London where the Prime Minister and finance minister live and work
  • proper noun
translation icon : Downing Street
  • After the meeting concluded, everyone left 10 Downing Street with a sense of optimism regarding the proposed changes.
  • 10 Downing Street

Examples

  • I'm from Downing Street.

    He Who Dares (2014)

  • Well, the Prime Minister and the rest of his family have been removed from Downing Street.

    He Who Dares (2014)

  • I am speaking to you... from the Cabinet room at 10 Downing Street.

    The King's Speech (2010)

  • She agreed to meet the Chief in her private office in 10 Downing Street the following morning at eight.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Yesterday, the Prime Minister held a press conference at 10 Downing Street to address the nation's concerns.

  • The new legislation was officially announced from Downing Street in a live broadcast this afternoon.

Surface Forms

Downing Street main

Morphology

Downing + street

This is a place-name used metonymically: 'Downing' is a proper name (no lexical meaning) and 'street' only signals a road. A B1 learner who knows the words would not be able to infer that it refers to the British government/Prime Minister without specific cultural/political knowledge, so the institutional meaning is unpredictable from the constituents.

Etymology

Downing Street was named after Sir George Downing, who built the houses there long ago. Because those houses include the Prime Minister's official home and offices, Downing Street refers to the real street with those important government buildings.