<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a downward slope, especially of a road.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used with object), downgraded, downgrading:<ul><li>to assign to a lower status with a smaller salary.</li><li>to minimize the importance of; denigrate: She tried to downgrade the findings of the investigation.</li><li>to assign a lower security classification to (information, a document, etc.).</li></ul></li></ul>