Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Set?

\Set\, n. 1. (Textiles) Any of various standards of measurement of the fineness of cloth; specif., the number of reeds in one inch and the number of threads in each reed. The exact meaning varies according to the location where it is used. Sometimes written {sett}. 2. A stone, commonly of granite, shaped like a short brick and usually somewhat larger than one, used for street paving. Commonly written {sett}. 3. Camber of a curved roofing tile. 4. The manner, state, or quality of setting or fitting; fit; as, the set of a coat. [Colloq.]
\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["a]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. I do set my bow in the cloud. --Gen. ix. 13. 2. Hence, to attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place. Set your affection on things above. --Col. iii. 2. The Lord set a mark upon Cain. --Gen. iv. 15. 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. The Lord thy God will set thee on high. --Deut. xxviii. 1. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother. --Matt. x. 35. Every incident sets him thinking. --Coleridge. 4. To fix firmly; to make fast, permanent, or stable; to render motionless; to give an unchanging place, form, or condition to. Specifically: (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. They show how hard they are set in this particular. --Addison. (b) To fix beforehand; to determine; hence, to make unyielding or obstinate; to render stiff, unpliant, or rigid; as, to set one's countenance. His eyes were set by reason of his age. --1 Kings xiv. 4. On these three objects his heart was set. --Macaulay. Make my heart as a millstone, set my face as a flint. --Tennyson. (c) To fix in the ground, as a post or a tree; to plant; as, to set pear trees in an orchard. (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. And him too rich a jewel to be set In vulgar metal for a vulgar use. --Dryden. (e) To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle; as, to set milk for cheese. 5. To put into a desired position or condition; to adjust; to regulate; to adapt. Specifically: (a) To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare; as, to set (that is, to hone) a razor; to set a saw. Tables for to sette, and beddes make. --Chaucer. (b) To extend and bring into position; to spread; as, to set the sails of a ship. (c) To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote; as, to set a psalm. --Fielding. (d) To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; to replace; as, to set a broken bone. (e) To make to agree with some standard; as, to set a watch or a clock. (f) (Masonry) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure. 6. To stake at play; to wager; to risk. I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die. --Shak. 7. To fit with music; to adapt, as words to notes; to prepare for singing. Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute. --Dryden. 8. To determine; to appoint; to assign; to fix; as, to set a time for a meeting; to set a price on a horse. 9. To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there. High on their heads, with jewels richly set, Each lady wore a radiant coronet. --Dryden. Pastoral dales thin set with modern farms. --Wordsworth. 10. To value; to rate; -- with at. Be you contented, wearing now the garland, To have a son set your decrees at naught. --Shak. I do not set my life at a pin's fee. --Shak. 11. To point out the seat or position of, as birds, or other game; -- said of hunting dogs. 12. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign; as, to set an example; to set lessons to be learned. 13. To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill. [Scot.] 14. (Print.) To compose; to arrange in words, lines, etc.; as, to set type; to set a page. {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. Setting aside all other considerations, I will endeavor to know the truth, and yield to that. --Tillotson. (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, snare, or 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. Some rules were to be set down for the government of the army. --Clarendon. (b) To fix; to establish; to ordain. This law we may name eternal, being that order which God . . . hath set down with himself, for himself to do all things by. --Hooker. (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.] The Venetian admiral had a fleet of sixty galleys, set forth by the Venetians. --Knolles. {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.] If you please to assist and set me in, I will recollect myself. --Collier. {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, or 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. They . . . set off the worst faces with the best airs. --Addison. (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 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. An ugly woman, in rich habit set out with jewels, nothing can become. --Dryden. (d) To raise, equip, and send forth; to furnish. [R.] The Venetians pretend they could set out, in case of great necessity, thirty men-of-war. --Addison. (e) To show; to display; to recommend; to set off. I could set out that best side of Luther. --Atterbury. (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. I'll set up such a note as she shall hear. --Dryden. (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. Syn: See {Put}.
\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. Ere the weary sun set in the west. --Shak. Thus this century sets with little mirth, and the next is likely to arise with more mourning. --Fuller. 2. To fit music to words. [Obs.] --Shak. 3. To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant. ``To sow dry, and set wet.'' --Old Proverb. 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). 5. To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened. A gathering and serring of the spirits together to resist, maketh the teeth to set hard one against another. --Bacon. 6. To congeal; to concrete; to solidify. That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set. --Boyle. 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. 8. To begin to move; to go out or forth; to start; -- now followed by out. The king is set from London. --Shak. 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. 10. To apply one's self; to undertake earnestly; -- now followed by out. 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. 11. To fit or suit one; to sit; as, the coat sets well. Note: [Colloquially used, but improperly, for sit.] 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. {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 {upon}. (a) To begin, as a journey or enterprise; to set about. He that would seriously set upon the search of truth. --Locke. (b) To assault; to make an attack. --Bacon. Cassio hath here been set on in the dark. --Shak. {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. Those men who set up for mortality without regard to religion, are generally but virtuous in part. --Swift.
\Set\, a. 1. Fixed in position; immovable; rigid; as, a set line; a set countenance. 2. Firm; unchanging; obstinate; as, set opinions or prejudices. 3. Regular; uniform; formal; as, a set discourse; a set battle. ``The set phrase of peace.'' --Shak. 4. Established; prescribed; as, set forms of prayer. 5. Adjusted; arranged; formed; adapted. {Set hammer}. (a) A hammer the head of which is not tightly fastened upon the handle, but may be reversed. --Knight. (b) A hammer with a concave face which forms a die for shaping anything, as the end of a bolt, rivet, etc. {Set line}, a line to which a number of baited hooks are attached, and which, supported by floats and properly secured, may be left unguarded during the absence of the fisherman. {Set nut}, a jam nut or lock nut. See under {Nut}. {Set screw} (Mach.), a screw, sometimes cupped or printed at one end, and screwed through one part, as of a machine, tightly upon another part, to prevent the one from slipping upon the other. {Set speech}, a speech carefully prepared before it is delivered in public; a formal or methodical speech.
\Set\, n. 1. The act of setting, as of the sun or other heavenly body; descent; hence, the close; termination. ``Locking at the set of day.'' --Tennyson. The weary sun hath made a golden set. --Shak. 2. That which is set, placed, or fixed. Specifically: (a) A young plant for growth; as, a set of white thorn. (b) That which is staked; a wager; a venture; a stake; hence, a game at venture. [Obs. or R.] We will in France, by God's grace, play a set Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard. --Shak. That was but civil war, an equal set. --Dryden. (c) (Mech.) Permanent change of figure in consequence of excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.; as, the set of a spring. (d) A kind of punch used for bending, indenting, or giving shape to, metal; as, a saw set. (e) (Pile Driving) A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot be reached by the weight, or hammer, except by means of such an intervening piece. [Often incorrectly written {sett}.] (f) (Carp.) A short steel spike used for driving the head of a nail below the surface. 3. [Perhaps due to confusion with sect, sept.] A number of things of the same kind, ordinarily used or classed together; a collection of articles which naturally complement each other, and usually go together; an assortment; a suit; as, a set of chairs, of china, of surgical or mathematical instruments, of books, etc. [In this sense, sometimes incorrectly written {sett}.] 4. A number of persons associated by custom, office, common opinion, quality, or the like; a division; a group; a clique. ``Others of our set.'' --Tennyson. This falls into different divisions, or sets, of nations connected under particular religions. --R. P. Ward. 5. Direction or course; as, the set of the wind, or of a current. 6. In dancing, the number of persons necessary to execute a quadrille; also, the series of figures or movements executed. 7. The deflection of a tooth, or of the teeth, of a saw, which causes the the saw to cut a kerf, or make an opening, wider than the blade. 8. (a) A young oyster when first attached. (b) Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality. 9. (Tennis) A series of as many games as may be necessary to enable one side to win six. If at the end of the tenth game the score is a tie, the set is usually called a deuce set, and decided by an application of the rules for playing off deuce in a game. See {Deuce}. 10. (Type Founding) That dimension of the body of a type called by printers the width. {Dead set}. (a) The act of a setter dog when it discovers the game, and remains intently fixed in pointing it out. (b) A fixed or stationary condition arising from obstacle or hindrance; a deadlock; as, to be at a dead set. (c) A concerted scheme to defraud by gaming; a determined onset. {To make a dead set}, to make a determined onset, literally or figuratively. Syn: Collection; series; group. See {Pair}.