| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
set1 (sɛt) ![]() | |
| —vb (foll by on | |
| 1. | to put or place in position or into a specified state or condition: to set a book on the table; to set someone free |
| 2. | (also intr; |
| 3. | to put into order or readiness for use; prepare: to set a trap; to set the table for dinner |
| 4. | (also intr) to put, form, or be formed into a jelled, firm, fixed, or rigid state: the jelly set in three hours |
| 5. | (also intr) to put or be put into a position that will restore a normal state: to set a broken bone |
| 6. | to adjust (a clock or other instrument) to a position |
| 7. | to determine or establish: we have set the date for our wedding |
| 8. | to prescribe or allot (an undertaking, course of study, etc): the examiners have set ``Paradise Lost'' |
| 9. | to arrange in a particular fashion, esp an attractive one: she set her hair; the jeweller set the diamonds in silver |
| 10. | (of clothes) to hang or fit (well or badly) when worn |
| 11. | Also: set to music to provide music for (a poem or other text to be sung) |
| 12. | printing Also: set up to arrange or produce (type, film, etc) from (text or copy); compose |
| 13. | to arrange (a stage, television studio, etc) with scenery and props |
| 14. | to describe or present (a scene or the background to a literary work, story, etc) in words: his novel is set in Russia |
| 15. | to present as a model of good or bad behaviour (esp in the phrases set an example, set a good example, set a bad example) |
| 16. | to value (something) at a specified price or estimation of worth: he set a high price on his services |
| 17. | ( |
| 18. | (also intr) to give or be given a particular direction: his course was set to the East |
| 19. | (also intr) to rig (a sail) or (of a sail) to be rigged so as to catch the wind |
| 20. | (intr) (of the sun, moon, etc) to disappear beneath the horizon |
| 21. | to leave (dough, etc) in one place so that it may prove |
| 22. | to sharpen (a cutting blade) by grinding or honing the angle adjacent to the cutting edge |
| 23. | to displace alternate teeth of (a saw) to opposite sides of the blade in order to increase the cutting efficiency |
| 24. | to sink (the head of a nail) below the surface surrounding it by using a nail set |
| 25. | computing to give (a binary circuit) the value 1 |
| 26. | (of plants) to produce (fruits, seeds, etc) after pollination or (of fruits or seeds) to develop after pollination |
| 27. | to plant (seeds, seedlings, etc) |
| 28. | to place (a hen) on (eggs) for the purpose of incubation |
| 29. | (intr) (of a gun dog) to turn in the direction of game, indicating its presence |
| 30. | (Scot), (Irish) to let or lease: to set a house |
| 31. | bridge to defeat (one's opponents) in their attempt to make a contract |
| 32. | a dialect word for sit |
| 33. | set eyes on to see |
| —n | |
| 34. | the act of setting or the state of being set |
| 35. | a condition of firmness or hardness |
| 36. | bearing, carriage, or posture: the set of a gun dog when pointing |
| 37. | the fit or hang of a garment, esp when worn |
| 38. | the scenery and other props used in and identifying the location of a stage or television production, film, etc |
| 39. | printing Also called: set width |
| a. the width of the body of a piece of type | |
| b. the width of the lines of type in a page or column | |
| 40. | nautical |
| a. the cut of the sails or the arrangement of the sails, spars, rigging, etc, of a vessel | |
| b. the direction from which a wind is blowing or towards which a tide or current is moving | |
| 41. | psychol a temporary bias disposing an organism to react to a stimulus in one way rather than in others |
| 42. | a seedling, cutting, or similar part that is ready for planting: onion sets |
| 43. | a blacksmith's tool with a short head similar to a cold chisel set transversely onto a handle and used, when struck with a hammer, for cutting off lengths of iron bars |
| 44. | See nail set |
| 45. | the direction of flow of water |
| 46. | a mechanical distortion of shape or alignment, such as a bend in a piece of metal |
| 47. | the penetration of a driven pile for each blow of the drop hammer |
| 48. | a variant spelling of sett |
| —adj | |
| 49. | fixed or established by authority or agreement: set hours of work |
| 50. | (usually postpositive) rigid or inflexible: she is set in her ways |
| 51. | unmoving; fixed: a set expression on his face |
| 52. | conventional, artificial, or stereotyped, rather than spontaneous: she made her apology in set phrases |
| 53. | (postpositive; |
| 54. | (of a book, etc) prescribed for students' preparation for an examination |
| [Old English settan, causative of sittan to | |
sett or set (sɛt) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | Compare cobblestone a small rectangular paving block made of stone, such as granite, used to provide a durable road surface |
| 2. | the burrow of a badger |
| 3. | a. a square in a pattern of tartan |
| b. the pattern itself | |
| [C19: variant of | |
| set or set | |
| —n | |
| [C19: variant of | |
set (sět)
v. set, set·ting, sets
To put in a specified position; place.
To put into a specified state.
To put into a stable position.
To fix firmly or in an immobile manner.
To become fixed or hardened; coagulate.
To bring the bones of a fracture back into a normal position or alignment.
The act or process of setting.
The condition resulting from setting.
A permanent firming or hardening of a substance.
The carriage or bearing of a part of the body.
A particular psychological state, usually of anticipation or preparedness.
| set (sět) Pronunciation Key
A collection of distinct elements that have something in common. In mathematics, sets are commonly represented by enclosing the members of a set in curly braces, as {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, the set of all positive integers from 1 to 5. |
set definition
|
| SET Secure Electronic Transaction |
set
In addition to the idioms beginning with set, also see all set; dead set against; get set; get (set) someone's back up; get (set) the ball rolling; lay (set) eyes on; on a pedestal, set; smart set; tongues wagging, set. Also see under put.
set
ancient Egyptian god, patron of the 11th nome, or province, of Upper Egypt.
Learn more about Set with a free trial on Britannica.com.