from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Set \Set\ (s[e^]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Set}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Setting}.] [OE. setten, AS. setton; akin to OS. settian,
OFries. setta, D. zetten, OHG. sezzen, G. setzen, Icel.
setja, Sw. s[aum]tta, Dan. s?tte, Goth. satjan; causative
from the root of E. sit. [root]154. See {Sit}, and cf.
{Seize}.]
1. To cause to sit; to make to assume a specified position or
attitude; to give site or place to; to place; to put; to
fix; as, to set a house on a stone foundation; to set a
book on a shelf; to set a dish on a table; to set a chest
or trunk on its bottom or on end.
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I do set my bow in the cloud. --Gen. ix. 13.
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2. Hence, to attach or affix (something) to something else,
or in or upon a certain place.
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Set your affection on things above. --Col. iii. 2.
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The Lord set a mark upon Cain. --Gen. iv. 15.
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3. To make to assume specified place, condition, or
occupation; to put in a certain condition or state
(described by the accompanying words); to cause to be.
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The Lord thy God will set thee on high. --Deut.
xxviii. 1.
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I am come to set a man at variance against his
father, and the daughter against her mother. --Matt.
x. 35.
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Every incident sets him thinking. --Coleridge.
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4. To fix firmly; to make fast, permanent, or stable; to
render motionless; to give an unchanging place, form, or
condition to. Specifically:
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(a) To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a
spot; hence, to occasion difficulty to; to embarrass;
as, to set a coach in the mud.
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They show how hard they are set in this
particular. --Addison.
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(b) To fix beforehand; to determine; hence, to make
unyielding or obstinate; to render stiff, unpliant, or
rigid; as, to set one's countenance.
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His eyes were set by reason of his age. --1
Kings xiv. 4.
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On these three objects his heart was set.
--Macaulay.
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Make my heart as a millstone, set my face as a
flint. --Tennyson.
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(c) To fix in the ground, as a post or a tree; to plant;
as, to set pear trees in an orchard.
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(d) To fix, as a precious stone, in a border of metal; to
place in a setting; hence, to place in or amid
something which serves as a setting; as, to set glass
in a sash.
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And him too rich a jewel to be set
In vulgar metal for a vulgar use. --Dryden.
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(e) To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into
curd; to curdle; as, to set milk for cheese.
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5. To put into a desired position or condition; to adjust; to
regulate; to adapt. Specifically:
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(a) To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare;
as, to set (that is, to hone) a razor; to set a saw.
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Tables for to sette, and beddes make. --Chaucer.
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(b) To extend and bring into position; to spread; as, to
set the sails of a ship.
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(c) To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the
keynote; as, to set a psalm. --Fielding.
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(d) To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; to
replace; as, to set a broken bone.
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(e) To make to agree with some standard; as, to set a
watch or a clock.
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(f) (Masonry) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the
blocks of cut stone in a structure.
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6. To stake at play; to wager; to risk.
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I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die. --Shak.
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7. To fit with music; to adapt, as words to notes; to prepare
for singing.
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Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute.
--Dryden.
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8. To determine; to appoint; to assign; to fix; as, to set a
time for a meeting; to set a price on a horse.
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9. To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to
variegate with objects placed here and there.
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High on their heads, with jewels richly set,
Each lady wore a radiant coronet. --Dryden.
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Pastoral dales thin set with modern farms.
--Wordsworth.
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10. To value; to rate; -- with at.
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Be you contented, wearing now the garland,
To have a son set your decrees at naught. --Shak.
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I do not set my life at a pin's fee. --Shak.
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11. To point out the seat or position of, as birds, or other
game; -- said of hunting dogs.
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12. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to
assign; as, to set an example; to set lessons to be
learned.
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13. To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill. [Scot.]
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14. (Print.) To compose; to arrange in words, lines, etc.;
as, to set type; to set a page.
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{To set abroach}. See {Abroach}. [Obs.] --Shak.
{To set against}, to oppose; to set in comparison with, or to
oppose to, as an equivalent in exchange; as, to set one
thing against another.
{To set agoing}, to cause to move.
{To set apart}, to separate to a particular use; to separate
from the rest; to reserve.
{To set a saw}, to bend each tooth a little, every alternate
one being bent to one side, and the intermediate ones to
the other side, so that the opening made by the saw may be
a little wider than the thickness of the back, to prevent
the saw from sticking.
{To set aside}.
(a) To leave out of account; to pass by; to omit; to
neglect; to reject; to annul.
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Setting aside all other considerations, I will
endeavor to know the truth, and yield to that.
--Tillotson.
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(b) To set apart; to reserve; as, to set aside part of
one's income.
(c) (Law) See under {Aside}.
{To set at defiance}, to defy.
{To set at ease}, to quiet; to tranquilize; as, to set the
heart at ease.
{To set at naught}, to undervalue; to contemn; to despise.
"Ye have set at naught all my counsel." --Prov. i. 25.
{To set a trap} {To set a snare}, or {To set a gin}, to put
it in a proper condition or position to catch prey; hence,
to lay a plan to deceive and draw another into one's
power.
{To set at work}, or {To set to work}.
(a) To cause to enter on work or action, or to direct how
tu enter on work.
(b) To apply one's self; -- used reflexively.
{To set before}.
(a) To bring out to view before; to exhibit.
(b) To propose for choice to; to offer to.
{To set by}.
(a) To set apart or on one side; to reject.
(b) To attach the value of (anything) to. "I set not a
straw by thy dreamings." --Chaucer.
{To set by the compass}, to observe and note the bearing or
situation of by the compass.
{To set case}, to suppose; to assume. Cf. {Put case}, under
{Put}, v. t. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{To set down}.
(a) To enter in writing; to register.
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Some rules were to be set down for the
government of the army. --Clarendon.
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(b) To fix; to establish; to ordain.
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This law we may name eternal, being that order
which God . . . hath set down with himself, for
himself to do all things by. --Hooker.
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(c) To humiliate.
{To set eyes on}, to see; to behold; to fasten the eyes on.
{To set fire to}, or {To set on fire}, to communicate fire
to; fig., to inflame; to enkindle the passions of; to
irritate.
{To set flying} (Naut.), to hook to halyards, sheets, etc.,
instead of extending with rings or the like on a stay; --
said of a sail.
{To set forth}.
(a) To manifest; to offer or present to view; to exhibt;
to display.
(b) To publish; to promulgate; to make appear. --Waller.
(c) To send out; to prepare and send. [Obs.]
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The Venetian admiral had a fleet of sixty
galleys, set forth by the Venetians. --Knolles.
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{To set forward}.
(a) To cause to advance.
(b) To promote.
{To set free}, to release from confinement, imprisonment, or
bondage; to liberate; to emancipate.
{To set in}, to put in the way; to begin; to give a start to.
[Obs.]
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If you please to assist and set me in, I will
recollect myself. --Collier.
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{To set in order}, to adjust or arrange; to reduce to method.
"The rest will I set in order when I come." --1 Cor. xi.
34.
{To set milk}.
(a) To expose it in open dishes in order that the cream
may rise to the surface.
(b) To cause it to become curdled as by the action of
rennet. See 4
(e) .
{To set much by} or {To set little by}, to care much, or
little, for.
{To set of}, to value; to set by. [Obs.] "I set not an haw of
his proverbs." --Chaucer.
{To set off}.
(a) To separate from a whole; to assign to a particular
purpose; to portion off; as, to set off a portion of
an estate.
(b) To adorn; to decorate; to embellish.
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They . . . set off the worst faces with the
best airs. --Addison.
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(c) To give a flattering description of.
{To set off against}, to place against as an equivalent; as,
to set off one man's services against another's.
{To set on} or {To set upon}.
(a) To incite; to instigate. "Thou, traitor, hast set on
thy wife to this." --Shak.
(b) To employ, as in a task. " Set on thy wife to
observe." --Shak.
(c) To fix upon; to attach strongly to; as, to set one's
heart or affections on some object. See definition 2,
above.
{To set one's cap for}. See under {Cap}, n.
{To set one's self against}, to place one's self in a state
of enmity or opposition to.
{To set one's teeth}, to press them together tightly.
{To set on foot}, to set going; to put in motion; to start.
{To set out}.
(a) To assign; to allot; to mark off; to limit; as, to
set out the share of each proprietor or heir of an
estate; to set out the widow's thirds.
(b) To publish, as a proclamation. [Obs.]
(c) To adorn; to embellish.
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An ugly woman, in rich habit set out with
jewels, nothing can become. --Dryden.
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(d) To raise, equip, and send forth; to furnish. [R.]
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The Venetians pretend they could set out, in
case of great necessity, thirty men-of-war.
--Addison.
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(e) To show; to display; to recommend; to set off.
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I could set out that best side of Luther.
--Atterbury.
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(f) To show; to prove. [R.] "Those very reasons set out
how heinous his sin was." --Atterbury.
(g) (Law) To recite; to state at large.
{To set over}.
(a) To appoint or constitute as supervisor, inspector,
ruler, or commander.
(b) To assign; to transfer; to convey.
{To set right}, to correct; to put in order.
{To set sail}. (Naut.) See under {Sail}, n.
{To set store by}, to consider valuable.
{To set the fashion}, to determine what shall be the fashion;
to establish the mode.
{To set the teeth on edge}, to affect the teeth with a
disagreeable sensation, as when acids are brought in
contact with them.
{To set the watch} (Naut.), to place the starboard or port
watch on duty.
{To set to}, to attach to; to affix to. "He . . . hath set to
his seal that God is true." --John iii. 33.
{To set up}. (a) To erect; to raise; to elevate; as, to set
up a building, or a machine; to set up a post, a wall, a
pillar.
(b) Hence, to exalt; to put in power. "I will . . . set
up the throne of David over Israel." --2 Sam. iii.
10.
(c) To begin, as a new institution; to institute; to
establish; to found; as, to set up a manufactory; to
set up a school.
(d) To enable to commence a new business; as, to set up a
son in trade.
(e) To place in view; as, to set up a mark.
(f) To raise; to utter loudly; as, to set up the voice.
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I'll set up such a note as she shall hear.
--Dryden.
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(g) To advance; to propose as truth or for reception; as,
to set up a new opinion or doctrine. --T. Burnet.
(h) To raise from depression, or to a sufficient fortune;
as, this good fortune quite set him up.
(i) To intoxicate. [Slang]
(j) (Print.) To put in type; as, to set up copy; to
arrange in words, lines, etc., ready for printing;
as, to set up type.
{To set up the rigging} (Naut.), to make it taut by means of
tackles. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
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Syn: See {Put}.
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