down east

• Down East
• Downeast

• Typically traced to 1817 nautical terminology referring to direction not location: in the warm months, the prevailing winds along the Atlantic coast of New England and Canada blow from the southwest, meaning ships sail downwind to go east.

down east

1. Northeastern New England (particularly the easternmost section of the U.S. state of Maine) and Canada's Maritime provinces (sometimes including the Gaspé Peninsula and Newfoundland), an area that corresponds to the historical French territory of Acadia.

down east

1. Of the Maritimes, Maine or adjoining parts.

   Down East fiddling

down east

1. In or into the Maritimes, Maine or adjoining parts.

• down-easter

• "down east", in OED Online, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

• Down East on Wikipedia