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

• seat
• sit

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

In 2001, Winfrey began to set down roots for what is now known as Promised Land, her sprawling home in Montecito, California. —Joyce Chen, Architectural Digest, 30 May 2025

After years of moving around and chasing various coaching jobs, Finch envisioned going back home to Pennsylvania to set down roots. —Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 20 May 2025

At one moment, officers asked Dominguez to set down the bag. —Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 17 May 2025

When Finnish architects Alvar and Aino Aalto completed their Paimio Sanatorium in 1933, the streamlined building must have looked like an emissary from the future, set down in a forest of fragrant pine. —Michael Snyder, Travel + Leisure, 14 Apr. 2025

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