"on the down-low" meaning in All languages combined

See on the down-low on Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase [English]

Audio: En-au-on the down-low.ogg
Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=}} on the down-low, {{en-PP}} on the down-low
  1. (US, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) In secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis. Tags: US, euphemistic, idiomatic, slang
    Sense id: en-on_the_down-low-en-prep_phrase-en:in_secret_or_nearly_so__on_a_need_to_know_basis Categories (other): American English, English euphemisms, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 36 36 28 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 34 33 33 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 31 33 36
  2. (US, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) Secretly sleeping with someone other than one's partner. Tags: US, euphemistic, idiomatic, slang
    Sense id: en-on_the_down-low-en-prep_phrase-en:cheating_on_one_s_partner Categories (other): American English, English euphemisms, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 36 36 28 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 34 33 33 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 31 33 36
  3. (African-American Vernacular, LGBTQ) (of a male) Publicly identifying as heterosexual but secretly having sex with other men. Categories (topical): LGBTQ Synonyms: on the down low, on the DL, on the low, on the downlow Related terms: keep it in the family
    Sense id: en-on_the_down-low-en-prep_phrase-en:having_same_sex_relations_but_not_identifying_as_gay Categories (other): African-American Vernacular English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 36 36 28 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 34 33 33 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 31 33 36

Alternative forms

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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "on the down-low",
      "name": "en-PP"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I'll tell you, but keep it on the down-low.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis."
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      "id": "en-on_the_down-low-en-prep_phrase-en:in_secret_or_nearly_so__on_a_need_to_know_basis",
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        "(US, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) In secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:in secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis"
      ],
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        "US",
        "euphemistic",
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        "slang"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Secretly sleeping with someone other than one's partner."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_the_down-low-en-prep_phrase-en:cheating_on_one_s_partner",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) Secretly sleeping with someone other than one's partner."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:cheating on one_s partner"
      ],
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "_dis": "34 33 33",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "31 33 36",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "(of a male) Publicly identifying as heterosexual but secretly having sex with other men."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_the_down-low-en-prep_phrase-en:having_same_sex_relations_but_not_identifying_as_gay",
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        "(African-American Vernacular, LGBTQ) (of a male) Publicly identifying as heterosexual but secretly having sex with other men."
      ],
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        {
          "_dis1": "19 15 66",
          "word": "keep it in the family"
        }
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:having same-sex relations but not identifying as gay"
      ],
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        {
          "_dis1": "31 25 44",
          "word": "on the down low"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "31 25 44",
          "word": "on the DL"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "31 25 44",
          "word": "on the low"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "31 25 44",
          "word": "on the downlow"
        }
      ]
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  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "En-au-on the down-low.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bd/En-au-on_the_down-low.ogg/En-au-on_the_down-low.ogg.mp3",
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  "wikipedia": [
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  "word": "on the down-low"
}
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    "English prepositional phrases",
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      "word": "keep it in the family"
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        "American English",
        "English euphemisms",
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        {
          "text": "I'll tell you, but keep it on the down-low.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
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        "In secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis."
      ],
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        "(US, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) In secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis."
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        "en:in secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis"
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        "Secretly sleeping with someone other than one's partner."
      ],
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        "(US, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) Secretly sleeping with someone other than one's partner."
      ],
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        "en:cheating on one_s partner"
      ],
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    },
    {
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "(of a male) Publicly identifying as heterosexual but secretly having sex with other men."
      ],
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          "LGBTQ",
          "LGBTQ"
        ],
        [
          "heterosexual",
          "heterosexual"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(African-American Vernacular, LGBTQ) (of a male) Publicly identifying as heterosexual but secretly having sex with other men."
      ],
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        "en:having same-sex relations but not identifying as gay"
      ]
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "on the down low"
    },
    {
      "word": "on the DL"
    },
    {
      "word": "on the low"
    },
    {
      "word": "on the downlow"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "down-low"
  ],
  "word": "on the down-low"
}

Download raw JSONL data for on the down-low meaning in All languages combined (2.4kB)

{
  "called_from": "form_descriptions/1831",
  "msg": "unrecognized sense qualifier: African-American Vernacular, LGBTQ",
  "path": [
    "on the down-low"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "prepositional phrase",
  "title": "on the down-low",
  "trace": ""
}

{
  "called_from": "form_descriptions/1831",
  "msg": "unrecognized sense qualifier: African-American Vernacular, LGBTQ",
  "path": [
    "on the down-low"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "prepositional phrase",
  "title": "on the down-low",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (f90d964 and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.