set down
Britishverb
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to write down or record
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to judge, consider, or regard
he set him down as an idiot
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(foll by to) to ascribe; attribute
his attitude was set down to his illness
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to reprove; rebuke
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to snub; dismiss
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to allow (passengers) to alight from a bus, taxi, etc
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Place in a lower position, as in Set the baby down here , or Set the bags down on the hall table . [Late 1400s]
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Put in writing, record, as in Just set down all the facts as you remember them . [Second half of 1500s]
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Regard, consider, as in Just set him down as a fool . [Late 1700s]
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Assign to a cause, ascribe, as in Let's set down his error to inexperience . [Early 1800s]
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Land an aircraft, as in The pilot set the plane down hard on the runway . Also see put down .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The chronological installation begins with Evans’s first two pen-and-ink drawings from about 1935: abstract radiating eyes, spirals, zigzags and squiggles—feverish doodles resembling ancient pictographic narratives set down in a trance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Britain's Heather Watson battled back from a set down against Claire Liu to keep alive her hopes of securing a first US Open main-draw appearance in five years.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Tongue-in-cheek title notwithstanding, though, the events of the film aren’t the sort of thing easily set down in a how-to guide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
It wasn’t until Yamamoto’s third time through the order that he finally set down Rafaela, who had the Red Sox’s only hits at that point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
Looming things that move with the current, swinging all together like a flock of ducks set down on a pond, beaks to the wind.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
