sit-down

American  

[sit-doun] / ˈsɪtˌdaʊn /

adjective

1. done or accomplished while sitting down.

   sit-down meetings between the two party leaders.

2. (of a meal or food) served to or intended for persons seated at a table.

   a sit-down dinner.

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noun

1. Informal. a period or instance of sitting, as to relax, talk, or the like.

   They had a profitable sit-down together.

2. sit-down strike.

3. a protest demonstration whereby participants refuse to move from a public place.

4. Informal. a meal, especially a dinner, served to persons who are seated at a table.

sit down British  

verb

1. to adopt or cause (oneself or another) to adopt a sitting posture

2. to suffer (insults, etc) without protests or resistance

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noun

1. a form of civil disobedience in which demonstrators sit down in a public place as a protest or to draw attention to a cause

2. See sit-down strike

adjective

1. (of a meal, etc) eaten while sitting down at a table

sit down Idioms  

1. Take a seat, as in Won't you sit down? I won't be long . [c. 1200]

2. sit down to . Prepare to eat a meal, as in At six we all sat down to dinner . [Late 1500s]

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Etymology

Origin of sit-down

First recorded in 1830–40; adj. and noun use of verb phrase sit down

Example Sentences

Officers carried away activists to cheers and clapping from other demonstrators who gathered for the sit-down demonstration in the capital's Trafalgar Square.

From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026

Beretta initially declined to meet, before eventually agreeing to a sit-down in December, Ruger said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026

It sells a steak dinner for less than $20 and a lot of fun, and that has turned it into the largest sit-down restaurant chain in the U.S. by sales.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

Nontraditional uses include content creation, sit-down dinners, product launches, album listening parties and workshops.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026

There was no question of McKissick’s own brilliance: he had helped design one of the earliest sustained sit-down protests against Jim Crow and helped to guide the most famous of these efforts—the Greensboro lunch-counter protest.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

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