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

The bank’s Lift Up Homeownership Program is meant to help first-time homebuyers who are Black, Latino, Native American, Asian or native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander make a down payment on a home. —Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 27 Jan. 2025

Giving them so much money and time has resulted in me not having enough for a down payment for my own home, despite being reasonably successful. —R. Eric Thomas, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2025

Even with a down payment secured with the sale of Mr. Kinney’s Clark home, the couple began to doubt their chances after visiting more than a dozen listings. —Addie Morfoot, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025

Keep in mind that a larger down payment can lower your monthly mortgage payments, increase your home equity and get you out of paying private mortgage insurance sooner. —Kelsey Neubauer, CNBC, 23 Jan. 2025

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