\Down"ward\, Downwards \Down"wards\, adv. [AS.
ad?nweard. See {Down}, adv., and {-ward}.]
1. From a higher place to a lower; in a descending course;
   as, to tend, move, roll, look, or take root, downward or
   downwards. ``Looking downwards.'' --Pope.
         Their heads they downward bent.       --Drayton.
2. From a higher to a lower condition; toward misery,
   humility, disgrace, or ruin.
         And downward fell into a groveling swine. --Milton.
3. From a remote time; from an ancestor or predecessor; from
   one to another in a descending line.
         A ring the county wears, That downward hath
         descended in his house, From son to son, some four
         or five descents.                     --Shak.

\Down"ward\, a.
1. Moving or extending from a higher to a lower place;
   tending toward the earth or its center, or toward a lower
   level; declivous.
         With downward force That drove the sand along he
         took his way.                         --Dryden.
2. Descending from a head, origin, or source; as, a downward
   line of descent.
3. Tending to a lower condition or state; depressed;
   dejected; as, downward thoughts. --Sir P. Sidney.