不下 + 数量
no fewer than; at least
Structure
不下 数目 （+ 量词 + 名词）
What it means
“No fewer than; at least”: 不下 means “not below”, so the true figure is this or more, and the speaker stresses that it is large.
How it is built
不下 + round number (+ measure word + noun), straight before the number: 这本书我看了不下十遍 (I have read this book at least ten times).
When to use it
Written and formal; in speech say 至少 or 起码. Close to 不止 (more than); the opposite of 不足 and 不到 (under). Like 多达 (4-1) it stresses a big figure, but 多达 gives the actual count, 不下 only a floor.
Watch out
Don't confuse it with the complement 不下 in 吃不下 or 放不下. And since 不下 makes a number sound big, use 不到 or 不足 for a figure you want to play down.
Examples
船队前后访问的国家和地区不下三十个。
In all the fleet visited no fewer than thirty countries and regions.
这本书我看了不下十遍，每次都有新的收获。
I have read this book at least ten times and get something new from it each time.
参加这次招聘会的公司不下两百家。
No fewer than two hundred companies came to the job fair.
Learn this in Lesson 97 · HSK 6–7: 郑和下西洋 (Zheng He’s voyages to the Western Ocean)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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