Skip to main content
down the road

down the road

188 3.7
At a time in the future
  • idiom
translation icon : en el futuro
  • Should managers be thinking further down the road regarding their information system needs?
  • years down the road
  • further down the road
  • think down the road

And I'll give you some examples down the road.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • But conservation is all about looking down the road and planning for the future.

    Academic text (1999)
  • It just leads to trouble down the road, OK?

  • Because it's going to be a lot more valuable a little ways down the road in this respect.

  • I mean, maybe a door opens up down the road, but for now, we're just friends.

  • We are leaving our resort and walking down the road to find some coffee.

  • Hospitals need to be thinking many years down the road when they first build a website.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The skills developed in the music classroom may take young children far down the road to becoming better readers.

    Academic text (2012)
  • To be fair, the economics profession has helped to direct politicians down the road toward multiple objectives.

    Academic text (1993)
  • We might not see results immediately, but I believe we will find success down the road.

  • He plans to invest more in his education, knowing it will pay off down the road.

Synonyms

one day
vsdown the road
1.1

At some time in the future

means eventual future time in a general sense
someday
vsdown the road
1.0

At some time in the future

means eventual future time in a general sense
yet
vsdown the road
737 1.0

At some time in the future

expresses the same eventual future idea without the negative context
later on
vsdown the road
366 1.0

At a time after now or after a time already said

is the general eventual future idea rather than a single future moment
down the line
vsdown the road
92 4.4

At some point in the future

is a general eventual future not limited to one point
before long
vsdown the road
56 1.6

It happens soon

means eventual future without implying it will happen soon
by and by
vsdown the road
  • Literature
9 7.1

After a while

is the general eventual future phrase used in everyday speech
down the track
vsdown the road
  • UK
2 5.1

At a later time

is the broad idea of eventual future rather than a single future moment
later
vsdown the road
1.0

At a time after now or after a time already said

is the broad eventual future sense rather than a specific future moment
forwards
vsdown the road
  • UK
1.2

From this time on into the future

focuses on a single future time rather than ongoing future action

Antonyms

now
4 1.0

The present moment when something is happening

How Soon

now
1.0
soon
1.0
later
1.0
down the road
188 3.7
eventually
3.0

Surface Forms

down the road positive

Morphology

down + the + road

The temporal sense 'in the future' is a metaphorical extension of the spatial image 'further along a road' — combining 'down' (further along) with 'road' (a path) yields the idea of a later point. This mapping from space to time is common across languages, so learners who know the words may guess the meaning, but it relies on a metaphorical transfer rather than strict compositionality.

Etymology

Down the road comes from the simple image of moving down a road: things you meet further along the road happen later, not now. So it means 'in the future' or 'eventually'.