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

Harris is also proposing outlawing price fixing by corporate landlords and giving first-time homebuyers who have paid their rent on time for two years with up to $25,000 in down payment assistance. —Carter Evans, CBS News, 25 Oct. 2024

Harris’ plan includes providing up to $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, which her campaign estimates could help approximately 4 million Americans secure homes over the next four years. —Nik Popli, TIME, 23 Oct. 2024

Harris also discussed some of her economic plans, including $25,000 in down payment assistance, a $6,000 child tax credit for new parents, and expanding Medicare to cover home health care for seniors. —Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2024

Kamala Harris aims to build on this record with child tax credits, down payment assistance for first-time home buyers, tax breaks for small businesses, modest tax increases for the wealthy, and a federal ban on price gouging for groceries. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

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