1658 W. Percey Compl. Swimmer xxii. 37 The side-turn. There is a great deal of difference between a circumvolution, or turning round, and this down-turn.

1897 Science 20 Aug. 295 Reversal of fault, giving upthrow on east and the structure existing to-day—low level on west passing to a west-facing fault cliff by a down-turn.

1997 P. D. James Certain Justice ii. 134 A face which might have been thought interesting if not pretty, were it not for the sullen downturn of the over-long mouth.

1858 Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis) 29 July The last steamer's news, advising a small down turn in these articles, was doubtless the means of arresting the upward tendency they have borne..for so many days past.

1889 N.Y. Times 20 Feb. 2/7 On this down turn $1 08³/ ₈ was scored, which was bottom, and before 12 o'clock there had been a rally to $1 11³/ ₈.

1947 E. R. Dewey & E. F. Dakin Cycles xvi. 233 The downturn in the 54-year price rhythm was hardly even noted.

1957 Economist 7 Sept. 760/1 The economy has already demonstrated this year that it can suffer a mild downturn in manufacturing.

1993 Forbes 18 Jan. 105/1 The next downturn could trim $1 trillion or more from the market's $4 trillion valuation.

2009 J. Kellerman True Detectives x. 93 Devising algorithms to predict the correlation between economic downturns and the rise of insurgency in Malaysia.

1955 Gen. Linguistics Spring 38 A downturn, whether in the middle or at end of the phrase, takes place within the accented syllable, and following unaccented syllables are low.

1964 L. S. Hultzén in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 87 In some idiolects this non-finitive text shape has an arrested down-turn or slight up-turn.

1986 D. Bolinger Intonation & its Parts viii. 147 Unless the speaker lengthens the vowel.., the downturn may all but vanish.

2003 C. Fought Chicano Eng. in Context iii. 73 Sometimes there is no final downturn.

1909 R. Kane Serm. of Sea xx. 325 The rusty green and knitted surface of the sod are gradually cloven and down-turned.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xvii. [Ithaca] 659 With solicitation, bending and downturning the upturned rugfringe.

2012 L. Jordan Lakeside Family xix. 205 The smile slid from Hannah's face, downturning her lips as she eyed both parents.

1980 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 451 63/1 The positive growth in earlier periods has downturned to become negative in later periods.

2002 A. H. M. Iman Introd. Prop. Marketing (2006) iii. 72 In this phase, demand continues to drop and new developments start to downturn.

2008 R. A. Longhorn & M. Blakemore Geographic Information iv. 100 The doctrine in the past was semireligious in its fervor, and largely assumption-led, but started to unravel when the economy downturned.