down payment

noun

: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the balance to be paid later

broadly : the first step in a process

Examples of down payment in a Sentence

She made a 10 percent down payment on the car.

We put a down payment on the house.

Recent Examples on the Web

Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more. —Jason Stauffer, CNBC, 27 Mar. 2026

And a $157,000 down payment is needed, too. —Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 27 Mar. 2026

Crypto owners can now use their digital assets as collateral for their down payments to buy a home. —Carlos Garcia, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2026

Instead, borrowers who qualify for the mortgage would only have to pledge such holdings and transfer them to Coinbase as collateral for their down payment. —ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for down payment

• copayment
• embayment
• nonpayment
• prepayment
• repayment
• claimant
• overpayment
• underpayment

Kids Definition

down payment

noun

: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the remainder to be paid later