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Glite Dictionary
🎯 To depend on ⬇️ To decrease 🌧️ To fall 🤒 To get sick 🗯️ To criticize 💻 To stop working
to come down

to come down

6 4.2
To stop working, used for a website or system
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : caerse

Examples

  • The people wanting more help may be in for a surprise when the whole system comes down.

    Blog text (2)

  • And we can see that whilst it rose for a few days, then it started to come down because of the effects potentially of the lockdown.

  • And when it comes down to it, when the CEO of PBS is making $600K+ a year, I'm not going to feel very sorry if any of their funding gets pulled.

    Blog text (10)

  • Experts say it's most likely that litigation over the presidency would come down to Florida or Ohio, the states where Romney and Obama have campaigned the hardest.

    Blog text (27)

  • The website suddenly came down due to a server overload, leaving users frustrated.

  • After hours of downtime, the online service finally came down, allowing customers to access their accounts again.

  • When the system comes down, it can take time for the technicians to restore it.

Synonyms

to shut down
vsto come down
541 2.9

Stop a machine, business, or system from working

is an unplanned stoppage caused by errors, overloads, or outages rather than choice
to break down
vsto come down
194 3.2

To stop working because of a problem

is about sudden complete unavailability, not gradual malfunction or partial failure
to go down
vsto come down
187 3.4

To stop working for a short time

is often sudden and implies unavailability due to errors or overloads
to crash
vsto come down
  • Specialized
156 3.2

To stop working suddenly, especially for a computer or program

is an abrupt unavailability that prevents users from accessing the service
to go bad
vsto come down
  • US
33 3.5

Stop working and need repair

is often sudden and emphasizes immediate unavailability from errors or overload

Antonyms

to function
441 2.6

To work in a particular role or job

to stay on
111 3.4

To remain in a place or job after others leave

How Severe

to crash
  • Specialized
156 3.2
to come down
6 4.2
to degrade
49 5.1

Surface Forms

come down infinitive
coming down present participle
comes down third person singular
came down past
come down past participle

Morphology

come + down

The meaning 'to stop functioning / become unavailable' is a metaphorical extension of the literal 'come' + 'down' (arrive at a lower state) where 'down' signals loss of operation or availability; this connection is related to other phrasal uses like 'go down' for services. However, the specific sense of system failure is not strictly predictable from the literal constituents for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so the relation is partial rather than fully transparent.

Etymology

Come down for a website or server gives the picture of a machine that falls and stops working, suddenly unable to serve users. That's why come down is used to mean 'to stop functioning or become unavailable'.