downstream
adverb or adjective
down·stream
ˈdau̇n-ˈstrēm 
1
: in the direction of or nearer to the mouth of a stream
floating downstream
located two miles downstream
2
: in or toward the latter stages of a usually industrial process or the stages (such as marketing) after manufacture
improving profits downstream
downstream products
3
biochemistry
: toward the end of a series of cellular processes : following a linked molecular event occurring in a sequence
But by looking downstream of the tumor suppressors [genes] at the proteins they influence, drug developers hope to find good targets.—
Marcia Barinaga
Marcia BarinagaExamples of downstream in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Then the group headed downstream to film another stretch.
—Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 11 Apr. 2024
The liquid nitrogen killed almost all of the aquatic life in a 60-mile stretch of the East Nishnabotna and Nishnabotna Rivers downstream of the spill—all the way to the confluence of the Nishnabotna with the Missouri River in the state of Missouri.
—Sage Marshall, Field & Stream, 3 Apr. 2024
The larger river then flows around a tight U-bend before heading downstream.
—Luke Ranker, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Apr. 2024
This season, the last of that ice melted and was floating downstream at the end of February, said Kathi Jo Jankowski, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey based in La Crosse.
—Journal Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2024
About twenty miles downstream from the Key Bridge, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge connects residents of the Washington, DC, and Baltimore regions to beach towns on the eastern shore of Maryland and the Delaware coast.
—Casey Tolan, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024
Crews took about two months to rebuild the bridge − the estimate had been six months − and traffic resumed in July 2002.
2007: Mississippi River bridge in Minnesota
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge, also known as Bridge 940, spanned the Mississippi River just downstream from Minneapolis.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024
By investing in restoration downstream in the value chain, corporates and investors help to provide sustainable income for those who look after the land everybody needs and reduce risks upstream by ensuring businesses can continue to make products well into the future.
—1000 Landscapes For 1 Billion People, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
Dams are a common feature on rivers throughout the world, built to store and provide water and hydroelectric power to people living downstream from them; there are 91,000 in the United States alone.
—Cassidy Randall, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2024
Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 11 Apr. 2024
The liquid nitrogen killed almost all of the aquatic life in a 60-mile stretch of the East Nishnabotna and Nishnabotna Rivers downstream of the spill—all the way to the confluence of the Nishnabotna with the Missouri River in the state of Missouri.
—Sage Marshall, Field & Stream, 3 Apr. 2024
The larger river then flows around a tight U-bend before heading downstream.
—Luke Ranker, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Apr. 2024
This season, the last of that ice melted and was floating downstream at the end of February, said Kathi Jo Jankowski, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey based in La Crosse.
—Journal Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2024
About twenty miles downstream from the Key Bridge, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge connects residents of the Washington, DC, and Baltimore regions to beach towns on the eastern shore of Maryland and the Delaware coast.
—Casey Tolan, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024
Crews took about two months to rebuild the bridge − the estimate had been six months − and traffic resumed in July 2002.
2007: Mississippi River bridge in Minnesota
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge, also known as Bridge 940, spanned the Mississippi River just downstream from Minneapolis.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024
By investing in restoration downstream in the value chain, corporates and investors help to provide sustainable income for those who look after the land everybody needs and reduce risks upstream by ensuring businesses can continue to make products well into the future.
—1000 Landscapes For 1 Billion People, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
Dams are a common feature on rivers throughout the world, built to store and provide water and hydroelectric power to people living downstream from them; there are 91,000 in the United States alone.
—Cassidy Randall, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'downstream.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near downstream
Cite this Entry
“Downstream.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/downstream. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
downstream
adverb or adjective
down·stream
ˈdau̇n-ˈstrēm
: in the direction a stream is flowing
Medical Definition
downstream
adverb or adjective
down·stream
ˌdau̇n-ˈstrēm
1
: in the same direction along a molecule of DNA or RNA as that in which transcription and translation take place and toward the end having a hydroxyl group attached to the position labeled 3′ in the terminal nucleotide
a nucleotide sequence located downstream from the regulatory gene
effects on the expression of downstream genes
compare upstream sense 1
2
: toward the end of a series of cellular processes : following a linked molecular event occurring in a sequence
But by looking downstream of the tumor suppressors [genes] at the proteins they influence, drug developers hope to find good targets.—Marcia Barinaga, Science
Marcia Barinaga, ScienceThe tyrosine kinase activity of phosphorylated EGFR [epidermal growth factor receptor] in cancer cells results in the phosphorylation of downstream proteins that incite cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and inhibition of apoptosis.—Jonathan E. Dowell and John D. Minna, The New England Journal of Medicine
Jonathan E. Dowell and John D. Minna, The New England Journal of MedicineLove words? Need even more definitions?
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