power down

verb

"power-down" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“power down” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To switch off (something electrical).

Corpus desk

Index EN-power-down · power down · English

power down · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for power down
PropertyValue
Headwordpower down
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “power down” in English

power downranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

power down is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To switch off (something electrical).".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for power down, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is power down, spelled P-O-W-E-R- -D-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To switch off (something electrical).

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how power down appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Google Glass batteries power down after 45 minutes of continuous recording, making it unlikely anyone could capture an entire film.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "power down"?
"power down" is spelled P-O-W-E-R- -D-O-W-N.
What does "power down" mean?
As a verb, "power down" means: To switch off (something electrical).
What language does "power down" come from?
"power down" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list