set

Less common meanings

16. 16
    adjective

    Ready or prepared.

    Once you've packed your snacks and charged your phone, you're all set.

    Once the bags were packed and the car was loaded, we were all set for the long drive.

    UsageOften all set (for something or to do something). Get set is the starter's call before go.

    Similarready, prepared, poised, organized

    Oppositeunprepared, unready

    Note

    Readiness on the starting line comes in two forms: on your marks, get set, go, or the clipped on your marks, set, go. Get set means to become ready, while the bare set stands alone as a one-word command. The adjective descends from the old past participle, Old English ġesett, so being set is literally having been put in position. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Both quoted starting-command sequences are attested. en.wiktionary.org
    • The adjective derives from Old English ġesett, a past participle. en.wiktionary.org
    • The underlying Old English verb means to set or place, supporting the explanation 'having been put in position'. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    lay out dishesverbtransitive

    To lay a table with dishes and cutlery.

    She set the table with the good china.

    Set another place, your brother is coming.

    UsageUsually in set the table. Lay the table means the same.

    Similarlay, prepare, arrange

    Oppositeclear

18. 18
    workout groupnouncountable

    In weight training and exercise, a group of repetitions of one movement performed without stopping, the reps making up the set: three sets of ten.

    Rest a minute between each set.

    She added a fifth set to her squats.

    UsageUsually sets of + a number: three sets of ten, rest between sets.

    Note

    Gym talk counts effort in two units. The repetition, or rep, is one movement, and the set is the run of reps done without rest. Workouts are written as sets of reps, as in three sets of ten. A session is tallied set by set, which is why Pumping Iron (1974) can speak of "the fourth set of benchpresses." Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Pumping Iron was first published in 1974. openlibrary.org
    • Pumping Iron contains the exact phrase quoted, in a passage on page 22. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    part of a matchnouncountable

    In tennis and similar games, a complete series of games forming one division of a match.

    He dropped only one set in the whole tournament.

    They were a set apiece when the rain came.

    UsageYou win, lose, or drop a set. Say a set apiece when each player has won one set.

    Note

    Tennis scoring nests one unit inside another: games make up a set, and sets make up a match. A match is described by how many sets it can run to, as in a five-set match, and progress is tracked set by set, as in a set apiece. Other sports, such as volleyball, build their sets from points rather than games. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Tennis sets consist of games. itftennis.com
    • Tennis matches consist of sets, with formats specifying how many sets may be played. tenniscanada.com
    • Volleyball sets are scored directly in points. fivb.com
20. 20
    broadcast receivernouncountable

    A radio or television receiver; an apparatus for receiving broadcasts.

    The old set in the corner still gets three channels.

    Every house on the street had a set by then.

    UsageUsually in television set or TV set.

    Similarreceiver, television, TV

21. 21
    social groupnouncountable

    A group of people connected socially or by a shared interest or way of life.

    After moving to the city, she fell in with an artistic set who met every Friday at a little cafe.

    The jet set of the sixties lived on airplanes.

    UsageOften follows a describing word: the jet set, the country set, the younger set. It can sound mocking.

    Similarcircle, crowd, clique, group, coterie

    Note

    A social circle seen from the outside, often with a judgment attached. It is named by a place or a leading figure, as in the country set or the Natalie Barney set, and it has insiders and outsiders. Kipling's speaker in 1888 tried to get into the Theosophists' set and was cast out. Thackeray's "very low set" shows how easily the word carries a sneer. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The expression “the Natalie Barney set” is attested. en.wiktionary.org
    • “The Education of Otis Yeere” first appeared in 1888, in The Week’s News on 10 and 17 March. kiplingsociety.co.uk
    • A character in Kipling’s story says she tried to enter the Theosophists’ set and was expelled. gutenberg.org
    • Thackeray uses “very low set” in a disparaging context. gutenberg.org
22. 22
    adjective

    Firmly decided about something: determined to do it (set on) or firmly opposed to it (set against).

    They're set on selling the house whatever we say.

    She's dead set on studying medicine, just like her mother.

    UsageSet on + noun or -ing for determination, set against for opposition. Dead set adds force.

    Similardetermined, intent, bent, resolved, adamant

    Oppositeundecided, irresolute, hesitant, uncertain

    Note

    Determination takes two constructions. The first is set on with a noun or -ing form: set on getting to his destination. The second is set with a to-infinitive, as when Stevenson and Osbourne write in 1892 of someone "just as set as I was to have you for best man." Opposition takes a different preposition: set against an idea. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The quoted work, The Wrecker, was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne and first published as a book in 1892. en.wikisource.org
    • The quotation is exact; Jim Pinkerton says it to Loudon Dodd about Mamie. gutenberg.org
23. 23
    become solidverbintransitive

    To solidify or become firm.

    Cement sets faster in warm weather.

    The custard wouldn't set, however long we waited.

    UsageOften leave something to set: jelly, cement, glue.

    Similarharden, solidify, stiffen, thicken, firm

    Oppositemelt, soften, liquefy

24. 24
    fix a boneverbtransitive

    To put a broken or dislocated bone back into its proper position.

    A vet can set a dog's leg in minutes.

    The fracture was set and plastered the same day.

    Similarrealign, reduce

25. 25
    adjective

    Rigid, solidified or hardened.

    Once the resin is set you can sand it.

    The icing needs to be fully set before you cut the cake.

    Similarhard, hardened, solid, firm, stiff

    Oppositesoft, liquid, runny, wet

26. 26
    verbtransitive or intransitive

    To compose music to fit a given text, such as a poem or song lyric.

    The composer set three of her friend's poems for voice and piano.

    The choir director asked a local songwriter to set the town's motto to music.

    UsageThe object is the words: set a poem to music. The piece is called a setting.

    Note

    The object is the text, not the tune: a composer sets a poem, or sets it to music, and the finished piece is called a setting. The verb can also stand alone, as in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, where a lady is told she can set, that is, supply the tune. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • William Shakespeare wrote The Two Gentlemen of Verona. gutenberg.org
    • Lucetta tells Julia that she can set, meaning supply music for words, using the verb without an object. gutenberg.org
27. 27
    attitudenouncountable

    A leaning or bias of the mind, or an attitude or habitual way of behaving.

    Once the puzzle solvers fell into a mental set, they kept trying the same failed method again and again.

    Teachers try to break students out of a rigid mental set by giving them problems that need a fresh approach.

    Similarattitude, disposition, bent, bias, cast

28. 28
    verbtransitive

    In volleyball, to pass the ball up to a teammate so that they can make an attacking hit.

    Good setters set the ball just above the net, where the hitter can strike it cleanly.

    On match point, she set the ball to the outside hitter, who drove it down the line.

    UsageSet the ball to a teammate. The player who does it is the setter.

    Note

    Volleyball's playmaking touch, and the reason the player who does it is called the setter. A set is judged by where it puts the ball for the hitter, and the verb takes the ball as its object with to before the teammate. As a noun, the pass itself is also called a set. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Setting is a playmaking action performed by the player called the setter. en.volleyballworld.com
    • A set's quality depends on placing the ball where the hitter can attack it. usavolleyball.org
29. 29
    verbtransitive

    To arrange type for printing, or to arrange a text in type.

    Before computers, compositors had to set every line of a book letter by letter.

    The printer sets wedding invitations in a delicate script face.

    Similartypeset

    Note

    The printer's verb behind typeset and typesetter. Its object can be the type, the page or the text, and the typeface follows in: an invitation is set in a script face. Before computers, a compositor set each line letter by letter, and the word has survived the change, so a book is still set in a typeface today. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Typeset incorporates the printer's verb set. en.wiktionary.org
    • Typesetter denotes a person who sets type and incorporates setter. en.wiktionary.org
    • Historically, compositors assembled lines of type from individual letters. oldtreasurybuilding.org.au
30. 30
    nounUKcountable

    In British schools, a teaching group for one subject, into which pupils are placed according to their ability.

    She was moved down a set in French after a disappointing mock exam.

    Pupils in the lower sets often follow a narrower syllabus for their GCSEs.

    UsagePupils are in the top set or a lower set for a subject, and move up or down a set.

    Note

    Sets are subject by subject, so a pupil can be in the top set for science and a lower one for French. They are ranked, and people speak of going up or down: moved down a set, placed in a higher set. The practice has its own verb: a school sets pupils for science. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Sets are arranged by subject, allowing a pupil's placement to differ between subjects. st-brides-cambuslang-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk
    • Ability sets are ranked. brimsham.com
    • Pupils can move between higher and lower sets. ravenswood.bromley.sch.uk
31. 31
    verbtransitive

    Of a plant, to form fruit or seed, usually after its flowers have been pollinated.

    Without bees in the orchard, the apple trees may bloom heavily but set very little fruit.

    Lettuce left in the garden too long bolts and sets seed.

    Similarbear, produce

    Note

    Gardeners and botanists use it for the moment flowering turns into a crop: a plant sets seed, a tree sets fruit. Bloom alone is not enough, and the result depends on conditions: Daniel Chamovitz's What a Plant Knows (2012) ties fruit set in many trees to a cold winter beforehand. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Flowering alone does not guarantee fruit production, which depends on conditions. hgic.clemson.edu
    • Daniel Chamovitz wrote What a Plant Knows. whataplantknows.com
    • What a Plant Knows was first published in 2012. cdn.waterstones.com
    • The book connects fruit set in many trees with a preceding cold winter. en.wiktionary.org
32. 32
    verbtransitive

    To shape someone's hair into a style that holds once it dries, usually working on it damp and often with rollers.

    The stylist used large rollers to set her hair while it was still damp, giving it soft waves.

    Before the wedding, the bridesmaids had their hair washed and set at a salon near the church.

    UsageOften passive: have your hair set at a salon, washed and set.

    Similarstyle, curl

33. 33
    nouncolloquialcountable

    The way in which something sits or fits, as a coat does on the person wearing it.

    A good tailor can improve the set of a suit with a few small changes at the shoulders.

    The stubborn set of his jaw told us he would not change his mind.

    UsageUsually the set of + noun: the set of his jaw, the set of a coat.

    Similarfit, hang

    Note

    A tailor judges the set of a coat; an observer reads mood or resolve in the set of a jaw or of someone's shoulders, where posture becomes a quiet signal. That outward bearing is what separates it from the "bias of mind" meaning, which names the attitude itself.

34. 34
    nouncountable

    A small bulb or tuber that is planted to grow a crop instead of sowing seed, chiefly for onions and potatoes.

    Garden centers sell onion sets in mesh bags every spring.

    Place each potato set in the trench with its sprouts facing up.

    Note

    A grower's shortcut: planting a set skips the seed stage and starts from a small bulb or tuber grown the season before. Onion sets are immature bulbs that swell into full onions; potato sets are small tubers, or cut pieces with an eye, that sprout new plants. The word is often plural when bought or sown in bulk, and it is not a seedling raised for planting out, which is already growing. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 9 facts

    • Planting a set uses a bulb or tuber instead of sowing seed. en.wiktionary.org
    • Onion sets were grown the previous season. homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu
    • Potato planting tubers can come from the previous season's crop. yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu
    • Onion sets are immature bulbs that grow into larger onions. homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu
    • Sets can produce full-sized onion bulbs. homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu
    • Potato planting material consists of small whole tubers or cut pieces with eyes that produce shoots. extension.umn.edu
    • An eye on a potato piece produces a new shoot. extension.umn.edu
    • Sets differ from seedling transplants, which have already developed leaves before planting out. extension.sdstate.edu
    • Seedlings raised for transplanting are already growing before planting out. extension.sdstate.edu
35. 35
    verbdated

    To make something stick fast or stop, blocking it or pinning it in place.
36. 36
    verb

    To drive a nail below the surface of wood with a punch, so its head is sunk.
37. 37
    verb

    To present or describe something, as in laying out the scene before a story begins.
38. 38
    verb

    To make up a puzzle, test, or challenge for others, such as a crossword or exam.
39. 39
    verb

    To arrange the scenery and props for a stage or film scene.
40. 40
    verb

    To create and give tasks, such as homework, to someone.
41. 41
    verb

    To make a liquid firm or solid, especially to turn milk into curd.
42. 42
    verb

    In bridge, to stop the declarer from making the contract.
43. 43
    verbobsolete

    To start moving or go on one's way.

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

    1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”
44. 44
    verb

    Of a plant, seed or fruit, to start growing, sprout roots, or begin to develop.
45. 45
    verbdialectalMidwestern USSouthern US

    To be seated.
46. 46
    verbdialectalMidwestern USSouthern US

    To lie or rest in a place or on something.
47. 47
    verb

    To hunt birds using a dog trained to crouch and point at game.
48. 48
    verb

    Of a hunting dog, to crouch or stand still to show where game is hiding.
49. 49
    verb

    To begin working hard at something, as in setting to work.
50. 50
    verb

    To put seedlings or cuttings into the soil.
51. 51
    verb

    To become stiff, firm, or fixed in place, as a face or jaw does.
52. 52
    verb

    Of a current, tide, or wind, to flow or run in a particular direction.
53. 53
    verb

    In country dancing, to face one's partner and greet them by stepping right and then left.
54. 54
    verb

    To mount a gem or stone in a metal frame, as in jewelry.
55. 55
    verb

    To put something in order or make it ready, such as a trap.
56. 56
    verb

    To spread something out and fix it in position, especially a ship's sails.
57. 57
    verb

    To give a tune its starting pitch by sounding the keynote.
58. 58
    verbdialectal

    Of food, to be digested well or badly, as in a meal that did not agree with someone.
59. 59
    verb

    To lower blocks of cut stone into position and bed them firmly, as in building a wall.
60. 60
    verbobsolete

    To stake money or something else of value on a bet, or put it at risk.

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

    c. 1593, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third:”
61. 61
    verb

    To decorate something by fixing jewels or other objects into or across its surface.
62. 62
    verbobsolete

    To judge what something is worth, used with at.

    I do not set my life at a pin's fee.

    c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”
63. 63
    verbdialectalScotland

    To look good on someone, or suit them.
64. 64
    verb

    To place a hen on eggs so it will hatch them.
65. 65
    noun

    A small punch used to drive nail heads below the surface of wood.
66. 66
    noun

    A badger's burrow or den.
67. 67
    noun

    The pattern of colored stripes in a tartan, or the thread count that produces it.
68. 68
    noun

    A small rectangular block of stone used for paving streets.
69. 69
    noun

    The sideways bend given to a saw's teeth, which makes the cut wider than the blade itself.
70. 70
    noun

    A lasting change in a material's shape after it has been squeezed, stretched, bent, or twisted too far.
71. 71
    noun

    A block put on top of a pile for a while so the driving hammer can reach it.
72. 72
    noundated

    In printing, how wide each piece of metal type is from side to side.
73. 73
    noun

    A baby oyster in the stage when it has just settled and stuck to a hard surface.
74. 74
    noun

    The young oysters that settle in a particular area, taken as a whole.
75. 75
    noun

    The pattern of checks and stripes that makes up a tartan or similar cloth.
76. 76
    noun

    The degree to which a curved roof tile is arched.
77. 77
    noun

    A clutch of eggs given to a sitting hen to hatch.
78. 78
    nounobsolete

    Money or another stake risked on a bet, and by extension a game of chance.

    That was but civil war, an equal set.

    1687, [John Dryden], The Hind and the Panther
79. 79
    noun

    A blacksmith's hand tool used to shape and smooth hot-worked iron.
80. 80
    noun

    A young plant or cutting ready to be planted out.
81. 81
    noun

    A young fruit that has only just begun to form.
82. 82
    noun

    The sinking below the horizon of the sun, moon or a star, and hence the end of the day.
83. 83
    noun

    The general direction or flow of something, such as a current or trend.
84. 84
    nouncolloquial

    An informal name for set theory, the branch of mathematics that studies sets, used in the plural form 'sets'.
85. 85
    noun

    The area where a film or video is shot, including the built scenery and the nearby space used by cast and crew.
86. 86
    noun

    The starting formation that dancers take up, as in a square dance.
87. 87
    noun

    A division of a match in sports such as volleyball, made up of points and usually won by reaching a target score with a two-point lead.
88. 88
    noun

    In volleyball, a pass that lifts the ball for a teammate to spike.
89. 89
    nounslang

    In poker, three cards of the same rank, especially a pocket pair matched by one card on the board.
90. 90
    verbUK

    To split pupils taking a subject into classes matched to how able they are.