to count down
40
3.3
- phrasal verb
:
hacer la cuenta atrás
- I'm gonna count down from ten.
- count down the days
I've pressed it, it's counting down, and there we go.
- I've pressed it, it's counting down, and there we go.
- It's like the the kid on Christmas, just counting down the days.
- That is the next thing that I'm now counting down to and I am going to Ireland this weekend.
- For people who try to count down but then don't actually push themselves forward.
- They, they make me think of New Year's, partying at New Year's and counting down to the ball drop.
- So I'm going to be counting down the minutes till I can try it because you guys know me and Self Tan are BFF.
- And I think because I had been kind of counting down to the second trimester because I absolutely hated how sick I felt.
- They are probably looking at this just counting down the days.
- So I'm now looking at him and he's counting down.
Examples
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I reckon a bit of time's already passed, so we'll count down from 10, shall we?
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A circuit in the alarm clock counts down from ten, and it starts ringing again.
Fiction book (2001) -
I bet I can count down from five faster than you can!
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As I count down, I want you to follow my voice.
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I'll count down for you.
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It's now one minute away from midnight and we're counting down.
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Then he holds up a hand, fingers spread, and begins to count down.
Fiction book (2000) -
Now, counting down from five, let the relaxation spread like a wave through your whole body.
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I'll count down.
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We're counting down from ten before the game starts.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to count backwards to zero' is directly derivable from combining 'count' (recite numbers) with 'down' (indicating movement to a lower level or decrease). The directional/metaphorical use of 'down' to signal decreasing numerical or temporal value is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Count down comes from the simple image of people saying numbers backwards, using count and down, until they reach zero before something begins. So, to count down means 'to count backwards to mark the time until an event starts'.