To set off

To set off
Set Set (s[e^]t), v. i. 1. To pass below the horizon; to go down; to decline; to sink out of sight; to come to an end. [1913 Webster]

Ere the weary sun set in the west. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Thus this century sets with little mirth, and the next is likely to arise with more mourning. --Fuller. [1913 Webster]

2. To fit music to words. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

3. To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant. ``To sow dry, and set wet.'' --Old Proverb. [1913 Webster]

4. To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form; as, cuttings set well; the fruit has set well (i. e., not blasted in the blossom). [1913 Webster]

5. To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened. [1913 Webster]

A gathering and serring of the spirits together to resist, maketh the teeth to set hard one against another. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

6. To congeal; to concrete; to solidify; -- of cements, glues, gels, concrete, substances polymerizing into plastics, etc. [1913 Webster +PJC]

That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set. --Boyle. [1913 Webster]

7. To have a certain direction in motion; to flow; to move on; to tend; as, the current sets to the north; the tide sets to the windward. [1913 Webster]

8. To begin to move; to go out or forth; to start; -- now followed by out. [1913 Webster]

The king is set from London. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

9. To indicate the position of game; -- said of a dog; as, the dog sets well; also, to hunt game by the aid of a setter. [1913 Webster]

10. To apply one's self; to undertake earnestly; -- now followed by out. [1913 Webster]

If he sets industriously and sincerely to perform the commands of Christ, he can have no ground of doubting but it shall prove successful to him. --Hammond. [1913 Webster]

11. To fit or suit one; to sit; as, the coat sets well.

Note: [Colloquially used, but improperly, for sit.] [1913 Webster]

Note: The use of the verb set for sit in such expressions as, the hen is setting on thirteen eggs; a setting hen, etc., although colloquially common, and sometimes tolerated in serious writing, is not to be approved. [1913 Webster]

{To set about}, to commence; to begin.

{To set forward}, to move or march; to begin to march; to advance.

{To set forth}, to begin a journey.

{To set in}. (a) To begin; to enter upon a particular state; as, winter set in early. (b) To settle one's self; to become established. ``When the weather was set in to be very bad.'' --Addison. (c) To flow toward the shore; -- said of the tide.

{To set off}. (a) To enter upon a journey; to start. (b) (Typog.) To deface or soil the next sheet; -- said of the ink on a freshly printed sheet, when another sheet comes in contact with it before it has had time to dry.

{To set on} or {To set upon}. (a) To begin, as a journey or enterprise; to set about. [1913 Webster]

He that would seriously set upon the search of truth. --Locke. [1913 Webster] (b) To assault; to make an attack. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

Cassio hath here been set on in the dark. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

{To set out}, to begin a journey or course; as, to set out for London, or from London; to set out in business;to set out in life or the world.

{To set to}, to apply one's self to.

{To set up}. (a) To begin business or a scheme of life; as, to set up in trade; to set up for one's self. (b) To profess openly; to make pretensions. [1913 Webster]

Those men who set up for mortality without regard to religion, are generally but virtuous in part. --Swift. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • set–off — / set ˌȯf/ n 1: the reduction or discharge of a debt by setting against it a claim in favor of the debtor; specif: the reduction or discharge of a party s debt or claim by an assertion of another claim arising out of another transaction or cause …   Law dictionary

  • set|off — «SEHT F, OF», noun. 1. a thing used to set off or adorn; ornament; decoration. SYNONYM(S): trimming. 2. something that counterbalances or makes up for something else; compensation; offset. 3. a) …   Useful english dictionary

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  • set-off — setˈ off noun 1. A claim set against another 2. A crossclaim which partly offsets the original claim 3. A counterbalance 4. An ornament 5. A contrast, foil 6. A setting forth 7. An offset (architecture and printing) • • • …   Useful english dictionary

  • set off against — index contrast Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

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