| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
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 up | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (also intr) to put into a position of power, etc |
| 2. | (also intr) to begin or enable (someone) to begin (a new venture), as by acquiring or providing means, equipment, etc |
| 3. | to build or construct: to set up a shed |
| 4. | to raise, cause, or produce: to set up a wail |
| 5. | to advance or propose: to set up a theory |
| 6. | to restore the health of: the sea air will set you up again |
| 7. | to establish (a record) |
| 8. | informal to cause (a person) to be blamed, accused, etc |
| 9. | informal |
| a. to provide (drinks, etc) for: set 'em up, Joe! | |
| b. to pay for the drinks of: I'll set up the next round | |
| 10. | printing another term for set |
| —n | |
| 11. | informal the way in which anything is organized or arranged |
| 12. | slang an event the result of which is prearranged: it's a setup |
| 13. | a prepared arrangement of materials, machines, etc, for a job or undertaking |
| 14. | a station at which a surveying instrument, esp a theodolite, is set up |
| 15. | films the position of the camera, microphones, and performers at the beginning of a scene |
| —adj | |
| 16. | physically well-built |
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
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set (so) up (for (sth)) definition
|
| SET Secure Electronic Transaction |
set up
Place in an upright position, as in I keep setting up this lamp but it won't stay up. [c. 1200]
Elevate, raise; also, put in a position of authority or power, as in They set him up as their leader. [Late 1300s]
Put oneself forward, claim to be, as in He set himself up as an authority on the banking system. [Mid-1800s]
Assemble, erect, make ready for use, as in They set up the sound system last night. [c. 1200]
Establish, found, as in They set up a new charity for the homeless. [Early 1400s]
Establish in business by providing capital or other backing, as in His father set her up in a new dental practice. [First half of 1500s]
Treat someone to drinks, pay for drinks, as in Please let us set you up tonight. [Colloquial; late 1800s]
Stimulate or exhilarate, as in That victory really set up our team. [c. 1600]
Lay plans for, as in I think they set up the kidnapping months ago. [First half of 1900s]
Prepare someone for a deception or trickery or joke, as in They set up their victim for the usual real estate scam, or Her friends set her up so that she was the only person in costume. [Mid-1900s]
Cause, bring about, as in The new taxes set up howls of protest. [Mid-1800s]