a reduction of the entered value of an asset account.
the procedure of reducing the recorded value of an asset, either by estimate or as a plan.
(tr) to set down in writing
(tr) to harm or belittle by writing about (a person) in derogatory terms
(intr; foll by to or for) to write in a simplified way (to a supposedly less cultured readership)
(tr) accounting to decrease the book value of (an asset)
Set down in writing, record, as in Please write down your new address and phone number . [Late 1500s]
Reduce in rank, value, or price, as in They've written down their assets . [Late 1800s]
Write in a simple or condescending style, as in These science texts are written down for high-school students . [Second half of 1800s]
First recorded in 1930–35; noun use of verb phrase write down
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Defaults by software maker Medallia and dental-service company Affordable Care contributed to a $560 million write-down for the KKR business-development company FS KKR Capital, equivalent to 10% of the fund’s net asset value.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Federal prosecutors are probing a BlackRock private-credit fund that surprised investors with a sharp write-down of its loan portfolio earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
KKR’s biggest private-credit fund took what amounts to a 10% write-down of its net asset value.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
In a 2019 trial, HPE had accused Lynch of inflating Autonomy's revenues which it said forced it to announce an $8.8bn write-down of the company's worth.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
All through 2008, she followed the bankers’ and brokers’ claims that they had put their problems behind them with this write-down or that capital raise with her own claim: You’re wrong.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
One man gifted Wilber a notebook he made of old chip bags and cardboard from a cereal box, and suggested he write down his family’s phone numbers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Project costs get booked over a multiyear period and companies also have to write down the value of their assets due to depreciation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
He told conference call listeners that a third of the $1.3 billion portfolio write down came from loans to the companies Medallia, Cubic Corp., and Affordable Care.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
Ahmad agreed to sign, so long as he was allowed to write down everything that had been done to him in Chicago and London.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
To write down things in her life so she could pay attention to how they stayed the same and know whenever they changed so that she could be ready for what that change might bring.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
