set down

verb

set down; setting down; sets down

transitive verb

1

: to cause to sit down : seat

2

: to place at rest on a surface or on the ground

3

: to suspend (a jockey) from racing

4

: to cause or allow to get off a vehicle : deliver

5

: to land (an airplane) on the ground or water

6

a

: ordain, establish

b

: to put in writing

7

a

: regard, consider

set him down as a liar

b

: attribute

Synonyms of set down

• sit
• seat
• put

Examples of set down in a Sentence

set the toddler down in her seat

set down the names of those in attendance

Recent Examples on the Web

To judge by the disorienting sound of this album, middle-aged motherhood for her has been less an experience of setting down roots than of ripping them up. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2026

Defending champion Jack Draper rallied from a set down and beat five-time champ Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) Wednesday night in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open. —ABC News, 11 Mar. 2026

Pandey encouraged Lodha to write the story as a book, even committing to buy the rights before a single word had been set down on paper. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 9 Mar. 2026

Day Pitney has not yet responded to the potential disqualification in court, which has been set down tentatively for a hearing on March 16. —Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 7 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for set down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown

Kids Definition

set down

verb

1

: to cause to sit down : seat

2

: to place at rest on a surface or on the ground

3

: to land (an airplane) on the ground or water

4

: establish sense 2

the government set down laws

5

: to put in writing