Today, I received the following question:
"Well, he's (his name is Hall) moving around, he's talking," said Mazur, exasperated. "We need extra food, water and oxygen to get him down. Otherwise he's not going to make it. [Here, what does down mean? Any synonyms? Down has many listings in the dictionary.]
ANSWER: Mazur's rescue team has found Hall alive and they radio for help. The phrase get him down simply means they must get him to the bottom or foot of the mountain or at least to a lower base camp. Thus the word down in this instance means lower or below. Mazur could have spoken "We need extra food, water and oxygen to get him below, to get him to the bottom, etc." Thus, here "down" is used as an adverb simply implying a directional position that is opposite of "up" indicating to go from a higher to a lower place. You might consider "below" as a synonym in this case.
