: a deliberate reduction in the book value of an asset (as to reflect the effect of obsolescence)
wrote down; written down; writing down; writes down
1
: to record in written form
2
a
: to depreciate, disparage, or injure by writing
b
: to reduce in status, rank, or value
especially
: to reduce the book value of
: to write so as to appeal to a lower level of taste, comprehension, or intelligence
Synonyms
Examples of write-down in a Sentence
Verb
a company forced to write down its assets
write down what you remember about that day
Recent Examples on the Web
Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune Asia, 17 June 2024
Recently, there was a revenue write-down of $250 million.
—William Wivell, Baltimore Sun, 22 Mar. 2024
Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 11 July 2024
Staats has continued writing down the personal records of each long jump opponent, particularly before big meets.
—Jacob Steinberg, Baltimore Sun, 10 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for write-down 
Noun
The loss was mostly attributable to a $4.9 billion write-down that resulted when GoTo surrendered a controlling stake in Tokopedia, its online shopping business, to the TikTok unit of Chinese social media company ByteDance.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune Asia, 17 June 2024
Recently, there was a revenue write-down of $250 million.
—William Wivell, Baltimore Sun, 22 Mar. 2024
Verb
For every genial host and deft waiter, there’s someone pouring water as if the table were in flames, interrupting conversation, and someone who doesn’t bother to write down an order, so has to ask again.
—Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 11 July 2024
Staats has continued writing down the personal records of each long jump opponent, particularly before big meets.
—Jacob Steinberg, Baltimore Sun, 10 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for write-down
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'write-down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near write-down
Cite this Entry
“Write-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/write-down. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
write down
transitive verb
wrote down; written down; writing down
: to reduce the book value of (an asset)
write down accounts receivable
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