: 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
Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2024
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
Jenna Ryu, SELF, 9 Aug. 2024
The research revealed that employees who wrote down their goals had higher levels of productivity and were more successful in achieving their goals than those who did not write down their goals.
—Jasmine Browley, Essence, 1 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for write-down 
Noun
That includes $14 million in write-downs of unused doses of the Covid vaccine and $55 million in charges related to the company’s efforts to scale back its manufacturing footprint, among other costs.
—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2024
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
Verb
Learning to be kind to yourself takes a lot of time and practice though, so one trick to try in the moment is to write down what your internal bully is saying.
—Jenna Ryu, SELF, 9 Aug. 2024
The research revealed that employees who wrote down their goals had higher levels of productivity and were more successful in achieving their goals than those who did not write down their goals.
—Jasmine Browley, Essence, 1 Aug. 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 19 Aug. 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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