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# countdown

«countdown» in Mova's school dictionary: **counting backwards to zero, usually before something…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a countdown, countdowns)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A countdown is counting backwards to zero, usually before something starts, like a rocket launch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#m1)

2) A countdown is the time just before an important event. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science and space lessons, rockets launch after a countdown: 10, 9, 8 ... 1, lift-off! In maths, counting down practises subtraction and number order. In everyday life there are countdowns to New Year, holidays and birthdays. Phrases: the countdown begins, countdown to, a countdown clock.

### examples

- The countdown began: ten, nine, eight ... [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#x1)
- After the countdown, the rocket blasted off. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#x2)
- We did a countdown to the New Year. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#x3)
- The countdown to the holidays has started! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#x4)
- A countdown clock showed how many minutes were left. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#x5)
- Count down from 20 in twos: 20, 18, 16 ... [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#x6)
- The class shouted the countdown together. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/#x7)

### note

Countable noun, one word: countdown. The verb is two words: count down (We counted down from ten). In maths, a countdown means each number is one less (or a step less) than the one before.

### In the corpora

- [«Hurry, only today!» and countdowns rush you so you do not think clearly; real bargains rarely vanish in minutes.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/313-kind-jokes-pranks-april-fools-and-adverts/19/)
- [Countdown timers on offers are there to rush you, so you buy before you think.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/413-loot-boxes-and-the-surprise-trap/33/)
- [Countdown timers on offers make you rush; many "limited-time" offers come back again and again.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/16-in-game-currency-coins-and-gems-are-real-money/8/)
- [A countdown timer counts down to zero and then beeps, so you do not have to guess.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/105-alarms-stopwatches-how-long-a-second-is/13/)
- [BC years count down towards the start like a rocket countdown, and AD years count up.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/125-bc-ad-dinosaurs-pyramids-timelines/2/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «countdown» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/countdown/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.