set-aside

[ set-uh-sahyd ]

noun
  1. something, as land or profits, set aside for a particular purpose.

  2. a tract of federal lands set aside as a wildlife refuge, oil exploration site, etc.

  1. a tract of farmland on which commercial crops or a specific crop will not be grown, as part of a federal plan to decrease production in order to maintain or increase prices.

  2. a specified amount or percentage of an industry's production set aside, especially for government use: Ten percent of gasoline production is a set-aside for emergency use by the state.

  3. a government contract awarded, as to a minority-owned business, without competitive bidding.

adjective
  1. pertaining to or constituting a set-aside: set-aside provisions of the new law.

Origin of set-aside

1
First recorded in 1940–45; noun, adj. use of verb phrase set aside

Words Nearby set-aside

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use set-aside in a sentence

  • It stands at one extreme of our currency, with a dollar of gold set aside behind each dollar of paper.

    Readings in Money and Banking | Chester Arthur Phillips
  • A decision may be modified or set aside when it is regarded as no longer applicable to the present condition of things.

  • One of these is filled to a depth of about one-fourth inch from a puncture in the finger, and is set aside for a few hours.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • Whenever a marriage can be set aside for some illegality, and is not, it will sustain her dower on his death.

  • This examination is made by an examiner, whose decision, however, is not conclusive and may be set aside by the commissioner.

British Dictionary definitions for set aside

set aside

verb(tr, adverb)
  1. to reserve for a special purpose; put to one side

  2. to discard, dismiss, or quash

nounset-aside
    • (in the European Union) a scheme in which a proportion of farmland is taken out of production in order to reduce surpluses or maintain or increase prices of a specific crop

    • (as modifier): set-aside land

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with set-aside

set-aside

Separate and reserve for a special purpose, as in We have to set aside some chairs for latecomers. [Early 1700s] Also see set by.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.