• enPR:sĕt,IPA^(key):/sɛt/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Homophone:sett
• Rhymes:-ɛt

FromMiddle Englishsetten, fromOld Englishsettan, fromProto-West Germanic*sattjan, fromProto-Germanic*satjaną, fromProto-Indo-European*sodéyeti, causative of*sed-(“to sit”).

set (third-person singular simple presentsets,present participlesetting,simple pastset,past participlesetor(dialectal)setten)

1. (transitive) Toput (something) down, torest.

   Synonyms:put,lay,set down

   Antonym:pick up

   Set thetray there.

2. (transitive) To attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place.

   I haveset my heart on running the marathon.

   • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Genesis4:15:

     The Lordset a mark upon Cain.

3. (transitive) To put in a specified condition or state; to cause to be.
   • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Deuteronomy28:1:

     The Lord thy God willset thee on high.

   • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Matthew10:35:

     I am come toset a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother.

   • 1827,Samuel Taylor Coleridge,Hamlet:

     Every incidentsets him thinking.

4. (transitive) Tostart (afire).

   Synonym:light

   Antonyms:extinguish,put out,quench

5. (transitive,dated) To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a spot.

   toset a coach in the mud

7. (transitive) Todetermine orsettle.

   toset the rent

8. (transitive) Toadjust.

   Iset the alarm at 6 a.m.

   (i.e. I programmed it at that hour to go off at a later time)

   Iset the alarm for 6 a.m.

   (i.e. I programmed it earlier to go off at that hour.)

9. (transitive) To punch (anail) intowood so that its head is below the surface.
10. (transitive) To arrange withdishes andcutlery, toset the table.

    Pleaseset the table for our guests.

11. (transitive) Tointroduce ordescribe.

    I’ll tell you what happened, but first let meset the scene.

    • 1749,Henry Fielding, chapter II, inThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume(please specify |volume=I to VI), London:A[ndrew] Millar, […],→OCLC:

      An incident which happened about this time willset the characters of these two lads more fairly before the discerning reader than is in the power of the longest dissertation.

12. (transitive) Tolocate (a play, etc.); to assign abackdrop to, geographically or temporally.

    He says he willset his next film in France.

    Her debut novel isset during the U.S. Civil War.

13. (transitive) Tocompile, to make (a puzzle or challenge).

    This crossword wasset by Araucaria.

14. (transitive) To prepare (a stage or film set).
15. (transitive) To fit (someone) up in a situation.
16. (transitive) To arrange (type).

    Synonym:typeset

    It was a complex page, but heset it quickly.

17. (transitive) Todevise andassign (work) to.

    The teacherset her students the task of drawing a foot.

18. (transitive,volleyball) To direct (the ball) to a teammate for an attack.
19. (intransitive) Tosolidify.

    The gluesets in five minutes.

20. (transitive) To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle.

    toset milk for cheese

21. (intransitive) Of a heavenly body, to disappear below thehorizon of a planet, etc, as the latter rotates.

    The moonsets at eight o'clock tonight.

22. (transitive,bridge) Todefeat acontract.
23. (obsolete, now followed by "out", as inset out) To begin to move; togo forth.
    • 1599 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,(please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

      The king isset from London, and the scene is now transported, gentles, to Southampton

24. (transitive,botany) To produce after pollination.

    toset seed

    • 2012, Daniel Chamovitz,What a Plant Knows, page155:

      Many fruit trees will only flower andset fruit following a cold winter.

25. (intransitive, of fruit) To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form.
    • 1906, Canada. Dept. of Agriculture. Fruit Branch,Fruit crop report:

      In the Annapolis Valley, in spite of an irregular bloom, the fruit hasset well and has, as yet, been little affected by scab.

26. (intransitive,Southern US,Midwestern US,dialects) Tosit(be in a seated position).

    Hesets in that chair all day.

    • 1913,Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, inMr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London:D[aniel] Appleton and Company,→OCLC:

      Old Applegate, in the stern, justset and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.

    • 1987, Toni Morrison,Beloved,page227:

      And if Mrs. Garner didn't need me right there in the kitchen, I could get a chair and you and me couldset out there while I did the vegetables.

27. (intransitive,Southern US,Midwestern US,dialects) Torest orlie somewhere, on something, etc.; to occupy a certain place.
    • 1975, “Convoy”, in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis (lyrics),Black Bear Road, performed byC. W. McCall:

      Well, we rolled up Interstate 44
      Like a rocket-sled on rails.
      We tore up all of our swindle sheets
      And left 'emsettin' on the scales.

28. To hunt game with the aid of asetter.
30. (hunting,ambitransitive) Of a dog, to indicate the position ofgame.

    The dogsets the bird.

    Your dogsets well.

31. To apply oneself; to undertake earnestly.
    • 1654,H[enry] Hammond,Of Fundamentals in a Notion Referring to Practise, London:[…] J[ames] Flesher forRichard Royston, […],→OCLC:

      If heset industriously and sincerely to perform the commands of Christ, he can have no ground of doubting but it shall prove successful to him.

32. (ambitransitive) To fit music to words.
    • 1709,J[ohn] Dryden,J[ohn] Oldham, “(please specify the page)”, inMac Flecknoe: A Poem.[…] With Spencer’s Ghost: Being a Satyr Concerning Poetry. […], London:[…] H[enry] Hills, […],→OCLC:

      Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute.

    • c.1590–1591 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene ii]:

      That I might sing it (Madam) to a tune:
      Giue me a Note, your Ladiship canset

33. (ambitransitive) To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant.

    toset pear trees in an orchard

    • 1774, John Robinson, Thomas Rispin,A Journey Through Nova-Scotia, York: C. Etherington,page19:

      We saw him with eight mensetting potatoes within a week of mid-summer.

    • 1915,D. H. Lawrence,The Rainbow, Vintage, published2011, page204:

      At Eastertime one year, she helped him toset potatoes.

34. To becomefixed orrigid; to befastened.
35. To have a certain direction of motion; to flow; to move on; to tend.

    The currentsets to the north; the tidesets to the windward.

36. (intransitive, country dancing) To acknowledge a dancing partner by facing him or her and moving first to one side and then to the other, while she or he does the opposite.

    Set to partners! was the next instruction from the caller.

37. To place or fix in asetting.

    toset a precious stone in a border of metal

    toset glass in a sash

    • 1681,John Dryden,The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London:[…] Richard Tonson andJacob Tonson, […],→OCLC, Act IV,page58:

      And him too rich a jewel to beset / In vulgar metal for a vulgar use.

38. To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare.

    toset (that is, to hone) a razor

    toset a saw

39. To extend and bring into position; to spread.

    toset the sails of a ship

40. To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote.
    • 1742,Henry Fielding, “Here Joseph Andrews Writ a Letter to His Sister Pamela”, inThe History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams. […], volume I, London:[…]A[ndrew] Millar, […],→OCLC, book I,page25:

      […] I ſhould be very vvilling to be his Clerk; for vvhich you knovv I am qualified, being able to read, and toſet a Pſalm.

41. To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state.

    toset a broken bone

42. (intransitive, nowdialectal) Tosit orlie (easily etc.) on thestomach; to bedigested in a certain manner.
    • 1917 February 12, “If You Knew What Foods?” (advertisement), inThe Independent, volume59, number3558, New York: Independent Corporation,page280:

      If you also knew how to combine foods—that is, what foods eaten together “set well,” you need never have indigestion, constipation or any of the headachy, stomachachy ills they lead to.

43. (masonry) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure.
44. (obsolete) To wager in gambling; to risk.
    • c.1593 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene iv]:

      I haveset my life upon a cast, / And I will stand the hazard of the die.

45. To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there.
    • 1700,[John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, inFables Ancient and Modern; […], London:[…]Jacob Tonson, […],→OCLC:

      High on their heads, with jewels richlyset, / Each lady wore a radiant coronet.

    • 1815,William Wordsworth,Poems of the Imagination:

      pastoral dales thinset with modern farms

46. (obsolete) To value; to rate; used withat.
    • c.1596–1599 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene ii]:

      Be you contented, wearing now the garland, / To have a sonset your decrees at naught.

    • c.1599–1602 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene iv]:

      I do notset my life at a pin's fee.

47. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign.

    toset a good example

48. (Scotland) To suit; to become.

    Itsets him ill.

49. To cause (a domestic fowl) to sit on eggs to brood.

    Toset a hen.

50. Repeating, or redoing, a specific exercise move without any breaks.

    You need to do this for 10 sets

Originally,set specifically served as the causative ofsit, and this relationship is still reflected in several of the above senses. However, as with many such pairs, the correspondence has mostly deteriorated, with new senses ofsit no longer being accompanied with a like sense ofset; notably, there are now transitive senses ofsit and intransitive senses ofset. Comparerise andraise, whose senses are almost all intransitive and transitive counterparts, respectively.

• (of heavenly bodies, to disappear below the horizon):go down,go west

• → Japanese:セット(setto)
  • → Hokkien:siat-to͘h

FromMiddle Englishset,sette, fromOld Englishset(“seat, place of residence, camp, settlement, entrenchment, stable, pen”), fromProto-West Germanic*set(“seat”), fromProto-Germanic*setą(“seat”).

set (pluralsets)

1. Apunch for settingnails inwood.

   nailset

2. A device for receiving broadcast radio waves (or, more recently, broadcast data); a radio or television.

   televisionset

3. Alternative form ofsett(“a hole made and lived in by abadger”).
4. Alternative form ofsett(“pattern of threads and yarns”).
5. Alternative form ofsett(“piece of quarried stone”).
6. (horticulture) A smalltuber orbulb used instead ofseed, particularly onion sets and potato sets.
7. The amount by which the teeth of asaw protrude to the side in order to create thekerf.
8. (engineering) Apermanentchange ofshape caused byexcessivestrain, as fromcompression,tension,bending,twisting, etc.

   theset of a spring

   • 1986 March 29,National Transportation Safety Board, “1.12 Wreckage and Impact Information”, inAircraft Accident Report: China Airlines Boeing 747-SP, N4522V, 300 Nautical Miles Northwest of San Francisco, California, February 19, 1985‎^[1], archived fromthe original on10 July 2022, page12:

     The wings were bent or set permanently 2 to 3 inches upward at the wingtips; however, theset was within the manufacturer's allowable tolerances.

9. Abias of mind; anattitude or pattern of behaviour.
10. (piledriving) A piece placed temporarily upon the head of apile when the latter cannot otherwise be reached by the weight, or hammer.
11. (printing,dated) Thewidth of thebody of atype.
12. Ayoungoyster when firstattached.
13. Collectively, thecrop of young oysters in anylocality.
14. A series or group of something. (Note the similar meaning inEtymology 4, Noun)
15. (colloquial) Themanner,state, orquality of setting orfitting;fit.

    theset of a coat

    • 1984 December 29, Amy Hoffman, “Dyke Detectives Solve Murder Mysteries”, inGay Community News, volume12, number25, page 7:

      So much of our culture, hidden by necessity for so long, involves subtle codes and signals: theset of her shoulders, the sway of his hips.

16. Thepattern of atartan, etc.
17. Thecamber of a curved roofing tile.
18. The full number ofeggs set under ahen.
19. (obsolete,rare) That which isstaked; awager; hence, a gambling game.
    • 1599 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene ii]:

      We will in France, by God's grace, play aset / Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.

    • 1687,[John Dryden], “(please specify the page number)”, inThe Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London:[…]Jacob Tonson […],→OCLC:

      That was but civil war, an equalset.

    • 1855 December –1857 June, Charles Dickens,Little Dorrit, London:Bradbury and Evans, […], published1857,→OCLC:

      Thenceforth the Dowager, with a light and careless humour, often recounted to her particular acquaintance how, after a hard trial, she had found it impossible to know those people who belonged to Henry’s wife, and who had made that desperateset to catch him.

20. Atool fordressingforgediron.

FromMiddle Englishsett, fromOld Englishġesett, past participle ofsettan.

set (comparativemoreset,superlativemostset)

1. Fixed in position.
   • 2013 July 19,Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, inThe Guardian Weekly, volume189, number 6, page34:

     Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had aset bedtime, researchers found.

2. Rigid, solidified.
3. Ready,prepared.

   on your marks, getset, go!; on your marks,set, go!

4. Intent,determined (to do something).

   set on getting to his destination

   • 1892,Robert Louis Stevenson,Lloyd Osbourne, “In which Jim and I Take Different Ways”, inThe Wrecker, London, Paris:Cassell & Company, […],→OCLC,page179:

     And she likes you so much, and thinks you so accomplished and distingué-looking, and was just asset as I was to have you for best man.

5. Prearranged.

   aset menu ―a meal that is instituted by arestaurateur for a limited occasion

   aset book ―a required reading for a course in an educational institution

6. Fixed in one’sopinion.

   I’mset against the idea of smacking children to punish them.

7. (of hair) Fixed in a certain style.

• (intent, determined):determined,intent
• (prearranged):dictated,prearranged,predetermined,prescribed,specified
• (fixed in one's opinion):fixed,rigid

FromMiddle Englishset,sete,sette(“that which is set, the act of setting, seat”), fromOld Englishset(“setting, seat, a place where people remain, habitation, camp, entrenchment, a place where animals are kept, stall, fold”) andOld Englishseten(“a set, shoot, slip, branch; a nursery, plantation; that which is planted or set; a cultivated place; planting, cultivation; a setting, putting; a stopping; occupied land”), related toOld Englishsettan(“to set”). CompareMiddle Low Germangesette(“a set, suite”),Old Englishgesetl(“assembly”). According to Skeat, in senses denoting a group of things or persons, representing an alteration ofsept, fromOld Frenchsette(“a religious sect”), fromMedieval Latinsecta(“retinue”), fromLatinsecta(“a faction”). Seesect. It is quite possible that the modern word is more of a merger between both, however.

set (pluralsets)

1. A young plant fit for setting out; aslip;shoot.
2. A rudimentary fruit.
3. The setting of the sun or other luminary;(by extension) the close of the day.
   • c.1593 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene iii]:

     The weary sun hath made a goldenset.

   • 1842,Alfred Tennyson, “Adeline”, inPoems. […], volume I, London:Edward Moxon, […],→OCLC,page41:

     And a rose-bush leans upon, / Thou that faintly smilest still, / As a Naiad in a well, / Looking at theset of day,[…]

4. (literally andfiguratively) Generalmovement;direction;drift;tendency.
   • 1840,Thomas De Quincey,Style:

     Here and there, amongst individuals alive to the particular evils of the age, and watching the veryset of the current, there may have been even a more systematic counteraction applied to the mischief.

   • 1951, Herman Wouk,The Caine Mutiny, page238:

     He put his eye to the alidade. “I thought so! Zerofive four and that's allowing nothing forset and drift along the line of bearing. We're inside the departure point now[…]”

5. Amatchingcollection of similar things. (Note the similar meaning inEtymology 2, Noun.)

   aset of tables

6. A collection of various objects for a particular purpose.

   aset of tools

7. An object made up of several parts.

   aset of steps

9. (set theory) A collection of zero or moreobjects, possibly infinite in size, and disregarding any order or repetition of the objects which may be contained within it.
10. (in plural, “sets”,mathematics,informal)Set theory.
11. A group of people, usually meeting socially or connected through some shared interest, activity, attribute, etc.

    the countryset

    • 1848 November –1850 December,William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XIX, inThe History of Pendennis. […], volume(please specify |volume=I or II), London:Bradbury and Evans, […], published1849–1850,→OCLC:

      That he took perfumed baths is a truth; and he used to say that he took them after meeting certain men of a very lowset in hall.

    • 1889,Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, inUnder the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published1899, page21:

      “Good gracious, child, you didn't join the Theosophists and kiss Buddha's big toe, did you ? I tried to get into theirset once, but they cast me out for a sceptic — without a chance of improving my poor little mind, too.”

    • 1984 December 29, H. W. Seng, “Alice, Gertrude and Sammy Dearest”, inGay Community News, volume12, number25, page13:

      They were very private people, though they did have their circle of friends at Bilignin. They had little or no association with the Natalie Barneyset, in their eyes much too frivolous.

12. Thescenery for afilm orplay.
13. the generallocations andarea where amovie’s, afilm’s, or avideo’sscenery is arranged to be filmed also including places foractors, assorted crew,director,producers which are typically not filmed.
14. (dance) The initial or basicformation ofdancers.
16. (exercise) A group ofrepetitions of a singleexercise performed one after the other without rest.

    Meronym:reps

    • 1974, Charles Gaines, George Butler,Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding, page22:

      This is the fourthset of benchpresses.

18. (tennis) A complete series ofgames, forming part of amatch.
19. (volleyball) A complete series ofpoints, forming part of amatch.
20. (volleyball) The act of directing the ball to a teammate for anattack.
22. (music) A musicalperformance by aband,disc jockey, etc., consisting of several musical pieces.
    • 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, inthe Guardian‎^[2]:

      You heard “oh, Jeremy Corbyn” everywhere: at the silent disco, during Radiohead’s Friday night headliningset, midway through the Other stage appearance by rapper Stormzy, who gamely joined in.

23. (music) Adrum kit, adrum set.

    He plays theset on Saturdays.

24. (UK,education) A class group in a subject where pupils are divided by ability.
    • 2012 April 26, “Themes: Pupil grouping and organisation of classes”, in(Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[3], Department for Education, archived fromthe original on14 June 2012:

      Looking at pupil attainment, the study found that students with the same Key Stage 3 scores could have their GCSE grade raised or lowered by up to half a grade as a result of being placed in a higher or lowerset.

25. (poker,slang)Three of a kind, especially if two cards are in one'shand and the third is on theboard. Comparetrips(“three of a kind, especially with two cards on the board and one in one's hand”).^[1]

• (close of the day):dusk,eve,evening,sundown,sunset
• (general movement):direction,drift,heading,motion,movement,path,tendency,trend
• (matching collection of similar things):suite,block
• (set theory, in plural):set theory
• (group of people, usually meeting socially):club,coterie
• (scenery):scenery
• (performance of several musical pieces):gig,session
• (drum kit):drums,drum kit,drum set
• (three of a kind):three of a kind