letdownn.

1768 Woman of Honor I. 235 I met with such a let-down.

1840 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) V. 14 The let-down to what is known as the ‘cottage and cow system’, has always been, that [etc.].

1861 Times 17 Sept. Here comes another ‘let-down’, really worse than any before.

1866 Lond. Misc. 3 Mar. 57 (Farmer) I don't think that's no little let-down for a cove as has been tip-topper in his time.

1894 ‘J. S. Winter’ Amyatt's Child Fr. in Red Coats i It would be hard to say positively that any trace of a disappointment—what Arlington called a ‘let-down’—marked his pleasant fresh face.

1933 N. Coward Design for Living ii. iii. 68 The human race is a let-down, Ernest; a bad, bad let-down!

1934 J. T. Farrell Young Manhood Studs Lonigan ii. 41 He was lassitudinous in a mood of let-down, already lonesome for yesterday.

1938 J. Steinbeck Long Valley 135 Mike knew it was all over. He could feel the let-down in himself.

1946 W. Stevens Let. 19 Feb. (1967) 523 There is not the..let-down between the two that one finds so often.

1960 M. Spark Bachelors x. 182 And now she's in for a let-down, though she won't admit it.

1971 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 8/4 What intrigues Mr Barstow is the inevitable let-down which is the result of getting older, of getting bored, of finding that passion can flicker out.

1945 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 49 74/1 Extra fuel to allow for errors in navigation, errors in weather forecasts and technical inabilities to make let-downs and landings through conditions of ice, clouds, or bad ground visibility.

1949 Flight 30 June 754/2 From its pilot, Col. Gray, we learned that, on the let-down from 35,000 ft, while the B-29 was still in formation, its port inner engine had over~speeded to 4,500 r.p.m.

1960 ‘N. Shute’ Trustee from Toolroom v. 97 The note of the engines changed as the let-down began.

1969 Guardian 13 Oct. 18/2 The precision of landing depends predominantly on the accuracy with which the spacecraft's orbital position is known at the moment let-down begins.

1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 5 Jan. 69/3 A time-lag between the end of let-down and stripping is too prevalent.

1965 J. Lee & F. Knowles Animal Hormones ii. 32 Thus the ejection of milk at suckling, or the ‘let-down’ of milk as it is referred to by agricultural workers, is a neurohormonal reflex.

1907 M. C. Harris Tents of Wickedness ii. vii. 193 The next was one of these ‘let-down’ mornings which everybody must remember having awakened to.

1945 E. Bowen Demon Lover 72 The car was a two-seater, with a let-down hood.

1948 Shell Aviation News CXXIV. 8/2 Written examinations are required on radio facilities in the New York area, including radio ranges, homing facilities, fan markers and let down procedures on the heavily congested La Guardia airport.

1956 Nature 24 Mar. 582/1 In studying the function of the milk gland, with the view of increasing milk production, particular attention has been devoted in recent years to the milk-ejection mechanism (the let-down reflex).

1957 R. H. Smythe Conformation of Dog vi. 88 The exhibition Greyhound has always been noted for length of tibia, low set-on hocks, well let-down stifles.

1964 Yearbk. Astron. 1965 135 At a fixed height the lunar let-down engine will fire to reduce the descent rate and, landing legs having been extended, the vehicle will complete a vertical descent on to the lunar surface, hovering for short periods before making the final touchdown.

1973 M. Mackintosh King & Two Queens ii. 24 I had talked myself out of the let-down feeling and was determined to make the most of the trip.

1974 P. Flower Odd Job i. 6 Somebody had called it an escritoire... It had a letdown flap you could write on.