# set

Pronunciation: say "SET" /sɛt/

## Noun

1. A group of things of the same kind, or of different things that belong or are used together, sometimes forming one whole.
   - Simple: A group of things that belong together or are used together, such as matching cups and plates.
   - _The kit comes as a set of brushes and paints._
   - _She lost the whole set of keys in one afternoon._
9. The scenery, furniture and built surroundings for a play or film, or the place where filming happens.
   - Simple: The scenery and furniture for a play or film, or the place where a film is made.
   - _The whole cast was on set by seven._
   - _The director wanted a darker set for the last act._
18. 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.
   - Simple: In exercise, a group of repetitions done without a rest.
   - _Rest a minute between each set._
   - _She added a fifth set to her squats._
14. In music, a performance by a band or DJ of several pieces played in sequence.
   - Simple: A band's or DJ's performance of several pieces in a row.
   - _They opened the set with their new single._
   - _The festival gives each act a thirty-minute set._
19. In tennis and similar games, a complete series of games forming one division of a match.
   - Simple: In tennis, a group of games that makes up part of a match.
   - _He dropped only one set in the whole tournament._
   - _They were a set apiece when the rain came._
15. In mathematics, a collection of any number of objects, possibly none or infinitely many, in which order and repetition do not count.
   - Simple: In math, a collection of things, with no order and no repeats.
   - _Two sets are equal if they have the same members._
   - _A set may contain other sets._
20. A radio or television receiver; an apparatus for receiving broadcasts.
   - Simple: A television or radio, as a piece of equipment.
   - _The old set in the corner still gets three channels._
   - _Every house on the street had a set by then._
21. A group of people connected socially or by a shared interest or way of life.
   - Simple: A group of people who mix together or share an interest.
   - _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._
27. A leaning or bias of the mind, or an attitude or habitual way of behaving.
   - Simple: A fixed way of thinking or 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._
30. In British schools, a teaching group for one subject, into which pupils are placed according to their ability. *(UK)*
   - Simple: In UK schools, a class for one subject, with students grouped by how good they are.
   - _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._
33. The way in which something sits or fits, as a coat does on the person wearing it. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The way something sits or fits, like how a coat hangs on you.
   - _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._
34. A small bulb or tuber that is planted to grow a crop instead of sowing seed, chiefly for onions and potatoes.
   - Simple: A small bulb or root part, like a small onion or potato, that is planted instead of a seed.
   - _Garden centers sell onion sets in mesh bags every spring._
   - _Place each potato set in the trench with its sprouts facing up._

## Verb

2. To put down, place or rest something.
   - Simple: To put something down in a place.
   - _She set the vase on the windowsill._
   - _Set your bags by the door and come in._
3. To determine, fix or settle something.
   - Simple: To decide and fix an amount, date, or rule.
   - _We still haven't set a date for the wedding._
   - _Who set the deadline so early?_
4. To establish something as a rule; to prescribe, assign or furnish.
   - Simple: To make a rule or an example for others to follow, or to give someone work to do.
   - _The teacher set homework for the weekend._
   - _As the oldest child, she felt she had to set a good example._
5. To put someone or something into a particular condition or state; to cause to be.
   - Simple: To make someone or something become a certain way.
   - _The news set the whole village talking._
   - _A good night's sleep will set you right._
6. To adjust a device to a chosen reading or state.
   - Simple: To adjust a clock, alarm, or control to a certain reading.
   - _Remember to set your watch when you land._
   - _The camera was set to manual focus._
8. To locate a play, film or story in a particular time or place.
   - Simple: To have a story, play or film happen in a certain time or place.
   - _The opera is set in ancient Egypt._
   - _Why did you set the story in a lighthouse?_
10. Of a heavenly body, to sink below the horizon as the Earth turns.
   - Simple: To sink out of sight below the horizon, used about the sun, moon or stars.
   - _In June the sun does not set until ten._
   - _Venus had already set when we looked._
17. To lay a table with dishes and cutlery.
   - Simple: To lay the table with plates, knives, and forks.
   - _She set the table with the good china._
   - _Set another place, your brother is coming._
12. To attach or fix something to, in or on something else.
   - Simple: To fix something firmly onto or into something else.
   - _A brass plate was set into the wall._
   - _The old church floor has hundreds of tiny colored tiles set in mortar._
13. To start a fire, or to light something.
   - Simple: To start a fire.
   - _The campers set a fire on the beach._
   - _Arsonists set the blaze, the police believe._
23. To solidify or become firm.
   - Simple: To become hard or solid.
   - _Cement sets faster in warm weather._
   - _The custard wouldn't set, however long we waited._
24. To put a broken or dislocated bone back into its proper position.
   - Simple: To put a broken bone, or one pushed out of its joint, back in place so it can heal.
   - _A vet can set a dog's leg in minutes._
   - _The fracture was set and plastered the same day._
26. To compose music to fit a given text, such as a poem or song lyric.
   - Simple: To write music to go with words, like a poem.
   - _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._
28. In volleyball, to pass the ball up to a teammate so that they can make an attacking hit.
   - Simple: In volleyball, to hit the ball up to a teammate so that they can hit it hard over the net.
   - _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._
29. To arrange type for printing, or to arrange a text in type.
   - Simple: To put letters and words in order so that they can be printed.
   - _Before computers, compositors had to set every line of a book letter by letter._
   - _The printer sets wedding invitations in a delicate script face._
31. Of a plant, to form fruit or seed, usually after its flowers have been pollinated.
   - Simple: Of a plant, to start growing fruit or seeds, usually after its flowers are 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._
32. To shape someone's hair into a style that holds once it dries, usually working on it damp and often with rollers.
   - Simple: To arrange hair, often while it is wet and in rollers, so it dries in a certain style.
   - _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._

## Adjective

7. Probably going to, or planned to, do or become something soon; used with to plus a verb.
   - Simple: Likely or planned to happen or do something soon, used with "to" and a verb.
   - _Forecasters say the storm is set to strengthen as it moves up the coast._
   - _After her third straight win, she looks set to become the youngest champion in the club's history._
16. Ready or prepared.
   - Simple: Ready and able to start something.
   - _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._
11. Fixed or arranged beforehand, and not changing.
   - Simple: Already decided, and staying the same.
   - _There is no set time for the meeting._
   - _The tour leaves at set times throughout the day, so check the schedule before you go._
22. Firmly decided about something: determined to do it (set on) or firmly opposed to it (set against).
   - Simple: Having firmly made up your mind to do something, or firmly against doing it.
   - _They're set on selling the house whatever we say._
   - _She's dead set on studying medicine, just like her mother._
25. Rigid, solidified or hardened.
   - Simple: Hard and solid, no longer soft.
   - _Once the resin is set you can sand it._
   - _The icing needs to be fully set before you cut the cake._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To make something stick fast or stop, blocking it or pinning it in place.
- (verb) To drive a nail below the surface of wood with a punch, so its head is sunk.
- (verb) To present or describe something, as in laying out the scene before a story begins.
- (verb) To make up a puzzle, test, or challenge for others, such as a crossword or exam.
- (verb) To arrange the scenery and props for a stage or film scene.
- (verb) To create and give tasks, such as homework, to someone.
- (verb) To make a liquid firm or solid, especially to turn milk into curd.
- (verb) In bridge, to stop the declarer from making the contract.
- (verb) To start moving or go on one's way.
- (verb) Of a plant, seed or fruit, to start growing, sprout roots, or begin to develop.
- (verb) To be seated.
- (verb) To lie or rest in a place or on something.
- (verb) To hunt birds using a dog trained to crouch and point at game.
- (verb) Of a hunting dog, to crouch or stand still to show where game is hiding.
- (verb) To begin working hard at something, as in setting to work.
- (verb) To put seedlings or cuttings into the soil.
- (verb) To become stiff, firm, or fixed in place, as a face or jaw does.
- (verb) Of a current, tide, or wind, to flow or run in a particular direction.
- (verb) In country dancing, to face one's partner and greet them by stepping right and then left.
- (verb) To mount a gem or stone in a metal frame, as in jewelry.
- (verb) To put something in order or make it ready, such as a trap.
- (verb) To spread something out and fix it in position, especially a ship's sails.
- (verb) To give a tune its starting pitch by sounding the keynote.
- (verb) Of food, to be digested well or badly, as in a meal that did not agree with someone.
- (verb) To lower blocks of cut stone into position and bed them firmly, as in building a wall.
- (verb) To stake money or something else of value on a bet, or put it at risk.
- (verb) To decorate something by fixing jewels or other objects into or across its surface.
- (verb) To judge what something is worth, used with at.
- (verb) To look good on someone, or suit them.
- (verb) To place a hen on eggs so it will hatch them.
- (noun) A small punch used to drive nail heads below the surface of wood.
- (noun) A badger's burrow or den.
- (noun) The pattern of colored stripes in a tartan, or the thread count that produces it.
- (noun) A small rectangular block of stone used for paving streets.
- (noun) The sideways bend given to a saw's teeth, which makes the cut wider than the blade itself.
- (noun) A lasting change in a material's shape after it has been squeezed, stretched, bent, or twisted too far.
- (noun) A block put on top of a pile for a while so the driving hammer can reach it.
- (noun) In printing, how wide each piece of metal type is from side to side.
- (noun) A baby oyster in the stage when it has just settled and stuck to a hard surface.
- (noun) The young oysters that settle in a particular area, taken as a whole.
- (noun) The pattern of checks and stripes that makes up a tartan or similar cloth.
- (noun) The degree to which a curved roof tile is arched.
- (noun) A clutch of eggs given to a sitting hen to hatch.
- (noun) Money or another stake risked on a bet, and by extension a game of chance.
- (noun) A blacksmith's hand tool used to shape and smooth hot-worked iron.
- (noun) A young plant or cutting ready to be planted out.
- (noun) A young fruit that has only just begun to form.
- (noun) The sinking below the horizon of the sun, moon or a star, and hence the end of the day.
- (noun) The general direction or flow of something, such as a current or trend.
- (noun) An informal name for set theory, the branch of mathematics that studies sets, used in the plural form 'sets'.
- (noun) The area where a film or video is shot, including the built scenery and the nearby space used by cast and crew.
- (noun) The starting formation that dancers take up, as in a square dance.
- (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.
- (noun) In volleyball, a pass that lifts the ball for a teammate to spike.
- (noun) In poker, three cards of the same rank, especially a pocket pair matched by one card on the board.
- (verb) To split pupils taking a subject into classes matched to how able they are.

## Origin

**Meanings 2–6, 8, 10, 12–13, 17, 23–24, 26, 28–29, 31–32** — From Middle English setten, from Old English settan, going back through Proto-Germanic *satjaną to a Proto-Indo-European causative of the root *sed- ("to sit"), literally "to make sit."
**Meanings 20, 27, 33–34** — From Middle English set, from Old English set ("seat, dwelling place, camp, pen"), from Proto-Germanic *setą ("seat").
**Meanings 7, 11, 16, 22, 25** — Old English ġesett, the past participle of the verb settan ("to set"), developed into Middle English sett.
**Meanings 1, 9, 14–15, 18–19, 21, 30** — Old English had set ("seat, habitation, camp") and seten ("a shoot, slip, plantation, that which is planted"), both connected with settan ("to set"), and these gave Middle English set. For the senses meaning a group of people or things, some scholars take the word instead as a variant of sect, coming from Latin secta ("a faction") by way of Medieval Latin secta ("retinue") and Old French sette ("a religious sect"). The modern word may well be a blend of the two sources.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/set (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).