set 
(c) To arrange ; draw up ; display. 
l"p higher to the plain, where we'll set forth 
In best appointment all our regiments. 
Static., K. John, ii. 1. 295. 
(/) To praise ; recommend. 
Beauty itself doth of itself persuade 
The eyes of men without an orator ; 
What needeth then apologies be made 
To set forth that which is so singular? 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 32. 
To set forward, to further the interest of ; aid in advan- 
cing; help onward. 
Amongst them there are not those helps which others 
have to set them/orwarrf in the way of life. Hooker. 
To set hand to flstt. See hand. to set In, to put in 
the way to do something ; give a start to. 
If you please to assist and set me in. Jeremy Collier. 
To set in order, to adjust or arrange ; attend to. 
The rest will I set in order when I come. 1 Cor. xi. 34. 
To set Off. (a) To adorn ; beautify ; enhance the appear- 
ance of : as, a garment sets off the wearer. 
Does . . . [she] want any jewels, in your eyes, to set off 
her beauty? Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, iii. 
What strange Dress is this? It is all over set of with 
Shells scollop'd, full of Images of Lead and Tin, and chains 
of Straw- Work. 
N. Bailey, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, II. 2. 
(ft) To act as foil to ; display to advantage by contrast : as, 
a dark beauty sets of a fair one. 
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault, 
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes 
Thau that which hath no foil toe< it of. 
Shale., 1 Hen. IV., i. 2. 239. 
(c) To put forward or plead as an equivalent; reckon 
against. 
It was also felt that though, in the ordinary course of 
criminal law, a defendant is not allowed to set <;// hi> good 
actions against his crimes, a great political cause should 
be tried on different principles. 
Hacaulay, Warren Hastings. 
It (the English sparrow] must be regarded as an instance 
of reciprocity, and be set of against the American weed 
[choke-pondweed, Anacharis Canadensis] which chokes 
our rivers. Atheiueum, No. 8068, p. 204. 
('/) To mark off ; separate, as by a mark or line : as, this 
clause is set of by a colon ; one field was set off from an- 
other. 
In modern it all printed trash is 
Set o/with numerous breaks and dashes. 
Suift, On Poetry. 
(e) To explode; discharge: as, to set of fireworks. To 
set on, to incite ; instigate ; put up. 
Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this. 
Shak., W. T., ii. 8. 131. 
To set one's capt. See cap'. To set one's cap at or 
for. See capi. To set one's face, to turn, direct or ad- 
dress one's self ; hence, to resolve ; determine resolutely. 
He rose up, and passed over the river, and set his/ace 
toward the mount Gilead. Gen. xxxi. 21. 
For the Lord God will help me ; . . . therefore have I 
set my face like a flint. Isa. 1. 7. 
When a minority of two hundred, or even of eighty mem- 
bers, set their faces to stop all legislation unless they get 
their will, no rules of procedure which the wit of man can 
devise will prevent waste of time. 
Edinburgh Rev., CLXV. 295. 
To set one's face against, to discountenance ; disap- 
prove of ; oppose. 
I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him 
off from among his people. Lev. xx. 6. 
To set one's hand to, to sign ; affix one's signature to. 
Lady Wishfort. You will grant me Time to consider? 
Fainall. Yes, while the Instrument is drawing to which 
you must set your Hand. 
Congreve, Way of the World, v. 6. 
To set one's heart at rest, to set one's heart on. See 
heart. To set one's seal to. See seals. To set one's 
shoulder to the wheel. See shoulder. To set one's 
teeth, to press them together forcibly or passionately ; 
hence, to take resolute or desperate measures. To set 
one to the door. See door. To set on fire. See fire. 
To set on foot. See/oo(. Tosetongroundt. Same 
as to briny to ground (which see, under ground!). To set 
out. (a) To assign ; allot : as, to set out the portion of 
each heir of an estate. (ft) To publish, as a proclamation. 
That excellent proclamation set out by the king. Bacon. 
The other ministers also set out an answer to his sermon, 
confuting the same by many strong arguments. 
Winthrojt, Hist. New England, I. 264. 
(f) To mark by boundaries ; define. 
Determinate portions of those infinite abysses of space 
and duration, get out, or supposed to be distinguished from 
all the rest by known boundaries. Locke. 
(d) To adorn ; decorate ; embellish. 
A goldsmith's shop sets out a city maid. 
Middleton, Chaste Maid, i. 1. 
In this Church are two Altars set out with extraordinary 
splendour, being deck'd with rich Miters, Embroider'd 
Maundrell, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 99. 
This day Mrs. Russel did give my wife a very fine St. 
George in alabaster, which will set out my wife's closet 
mightily. Pepys, Diary, II. 71. 
(<) To equip and send out. 
They set out a ship the last year with passengers and 
goods for Providence. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 15. 
The Venetians pretend they could set out, in case of great 
necessity, thirty men-of-war. 
Addison, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bohn I 389) 
5524 
(/) To show ; display ; demonstrate ; indicate. 
What doe they else but, in the abounding of mans 
sinne, set out the superabounding grace of God? 
I'liffhas, Pilgrimage, p. 108. 
Thus have I attempted to describe this duty [of praise], 
to set out the great reasonableness, and to stir you up to 
the practice of it. Bp. Atttrbury, Sermons, I. i. 
(g) To recite; state at large : as, tosff oirtone'seomplaint. 
(A) In engineering, to locate, (t) To place, as a stone in 
masonry, so that it projects beyond the stone next ad- 
joining, especially the stone or course next beneath; 
cause to jut out ; corbel out. 
The early Byzantine architects in Sta. Sophia for in- 
stancedid fit pendentives to circular arches, but it was 
with extreme difficulty, and required very great skill both 
in setting nut and in execution. 
J. Feryusson, Hist. Arch., I. 450. 
To set over, (a) To appoint or constitute as director or 
ruler over. 
I have set thee over all the laud of Egypt. Gen. xli. 41. 
(6) To assign ; transfer ; convey. To set right, to rec- 
tify; correct; put right. To set sail (naut.). Seesail>. 
To set seed, to form seed within the ovary: said of 
ovules which develop and become seeds that is, do not 
abort. See II., 3, below. To set shortt. See short. 
To set the hand to. See hand. to set the head- 
band, in bookbinding, to adjust the leather of the cover 
so as to lap over the head-band. To set the heather on 
fire, to set the land, to set the palette. See i,.,it/,,,. 
faiidi palette. To set the river on fire. See lire. To 
set the teeth on edge. See edge. To set the tem- 
perament, in tuning a pianoforte, organ, or other instru- 
ment in which tempered intonation is used, to tune a sin- 
gle octave in accordance with the temperament desired, 
so that the remaining octaves may be tuned at pure oc- 
taves therewith. To set to rights. See right. To set 
to salet. 8eeafel. Tosetup. (a) To erect; place up- 
right ; put together in an upright or natural form, espe- 
cially by means of articulating, stuffing the skin, or similar 
processes ; mount : as, the skeleton of a mammoth has 
been set up for the museum. 
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold: . . . 
he set it up in the plain of Dura. Dan. iii. 1. 
(ft) In the army, to fit (a man) by drill for military move- 
ments and parade. Wilhelm. (c) To begin, as a new enter- 
prise, institution, or arrangement ; put in operation ; es- 
tablish ; found; institute: as, to set up a factory ; to set up 
a school. 
There was another printer in town, lately set up. 
Franklin, Autobiog., p. 45. 
Is Perry going to set up his carriage, Frank? I am glad 
he can afford it. Jane Austen, Emma, xli. 
The large number of ice-making machines which have 
recently been set up. Sci. Amer., N. S., LX1II. 10. 
(d) To provide adequately ; supply ; furnish ; fit out ; 
stock : as, I have enough capital to set me up in trade ; she 
is set up in winter gowns. 
Two Deskes and a quire of Paper set him vp, where he 
now sits in state for all commers. 
Dp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, An Atumey. 
Some ends of verse his betters might afford, 
And gave the harmless fellow a good word. 
Set up with these, he ventur'd on the town, 
And with a borrow'd play outdid poor Crowne. 
Pope , Macer. 
(e) To raise ; promote ; exalt. 
Whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put 
down. Dan. v. 19. 
(/) To place in view ; display : as, to set up a notice or a 
signal. 
Set this [paper] up with wax 
Upon old Brutus' statue. Shak., J. C., i. 3. 145. 
On' all her olive-hills 
Shall men net up the battle sign of fire. 
Mrs. Uemans, Siege of Valencia. 
It appears unlikely that Asoka would have been allowed 
to set up two copies of his edicts in the dominions of such 
powerful kings as Aira and his father seem to have been. 
J. Fergusson, Hist. Indian Arch., p. 139. 
(g) To utter loudly ; raise, as a noise, or as the voice. 
I'll set tip such a note as she shall hear. 
Dryden, Amaryllis, 1. 88. 
Wherever in a lonely grove 
He set up his forlorn pipes, 
The gouty oak began to move, 
And flounder into hornpipes. 
Tennyson, Amphion. 
(A) To advance ; propose for reception or consideration : 
as, to set up a new doctrine, (i) To raise from misfortune 
or dejection; encourage; restore: as, this good fortune 
quite set him up. (i) To exhilarate: as, he was a little set 
up. [Colloq.] (k) Naut., to haul taut, or take in the slack 
of, as the standing rigging. (1) In printing: (!) To put 
in type : as, to set up a page of copy. 
He had only written the opening pages, and had them 
set up. H. James, Jr., Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 107. 
(2) To arrange in the proper order of words, lines, etc. ; com- 
pose : as, to set up type, (m) To offer to bidders at auction : 
as, the next three lots were set up together. (?) To bring 
about; produce; establish: as, a permanent curvature of 
the spine was set up. 
Sometimes it [eczema] is set up as the result of local or 
general irritation of the skin in certain occupations. 
Encyc. Brit., XXII. 122. 
(o) To place (an instrument) on its support : as, to set up 
a theodolite. To set up a sidet.to become partners at 
cards. To set up one's birse. See Wrse.fo set up 
one's restt. (a) To make up one's mind ; resolve ; deter- 
mine ; stake one's chances. [The origin of this phrase is 
obscure, but is generally referred to the old game of pri- 
mero, in which, it is alleged, a player who stood upon the 
cards in his hand in the hope that they might prove 
set 
stronger than those held by his opponent was said to stand 
ui><ni hi* red. Compare restt, n., 14.] 
On which resolution the soldier xcfx up his rest, and com- 
monly hazards the winning or loosing of as great a thing 
as life may be worth. 
Churchyard's Challenge, p. 62. (Nares, under rest.) 
I have set up my rest to run away. 
**-., M. of V., ii. 2. 110. 
Could I set up my rest 
That he were lost, or taken prisoner, 
I could hold truce with sorrow. 
Middleton, Spanish Gypsy, iv. 2. 
(ft) To pause for rest; make a halt; sojourn. 
"1'is also cheape living which causes travellers to set up 
their rest here more than in Florence. 
Evelyn, Diary, May 21, 1645. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Place, Lay, etc. Seeputl. 
II. intrnii.1. 1. To sink, downward ; settle 
down; especially, to decline toward and pass 
below the horizon, as the sun, moon, or stars. 
Now, when the sun was setting, all they that had any 
sick . . . brought them unto him. Luke iv. 40. 
His smother'd light 
May set at noon and make perpetual night. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 784. 
This day the ship heaved and set more than before, yet 
we had but few sick. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 11. 
He keeped her sae late and Jang, 
Till the evening set, and birds they sang. 
Lord IKnywaU (Child's Ballads, I. 288). 
2. To become fixed or firmly joined. 
Maketh the teeth to set hard one against another. 
Bacon, 
(a) To become motionless or immovable. 
The device [a car-brake] has a brake with a shoe con- 
nected to a main body, combined with an interposed spring 
or springs, to prevent the netting and sliding of the wheels. 
Sci. Amer., N. 8., LVIII. 74. 
(ft) To become firm, stiff, or solid : as, the jelly would not 
M. 
The frequent application of heat to gelatine destroys its 
setting powers. Workshop Receipts, 1st ser., p. 278. 
3. In l>ot. and hort., to develop the ovaries after 
fertilization; begin the growth of fruit : as, the 
blossoms were abundant, but failed to set; the 
peaches set well, but were blasted; in fish-cul- 
ture, to begin to germinate : said of eggs. 
It appears that the setting of the flowers that is, the 
production of capsules, whether good or bad is not so 
much influenced oy legitimate and illegitimate fertilisa- 
tion as is the number of seeds which the capsules contain. 
Darwin, Different Forms of Flowers, p. 47. 
4t. To engage in gambling; gamble, (a) To stake 
money in gambling ; wager ; bet. 
From six to eleven. At basset. Mem. Never set again 
upon the ace of diamonds. Addison, Spectator, No. 323. 
(6) To take part in a game of hazard ; play with others 
for stakes. 
Throw boldly, for he sets to all that write ; 
With such he ventures on an even lay, 
For they bring ready money into play. 
Dryden, Secret Love, Prol., ii. (1667). 
Sir John Bland and Offley made interest to play at 
Twelfth-night, and succeeded not at play, for they lost 
HOW. and 13001. As it is not usual for people of no higher 
rank to play, the King thought they would be bashful 
about it, and took particular care to do the honours of his 
house to them, set only to them, and spoke to them at his 
levee next morning. Walpole, Letters, II. 419. 
5. To begin a journey, march, or voyage ; start : 
commonly with on or out (see phrases below). 
The king is set from London. 
Shak., Hen. V., ii., Prol., L 34. 
She giea the herd a pickle nits . . . 
To watch, while for the barn she sets, 
In hopes to see Tarn Kipples. 
Burns, Hallowe'en. 
6. To have motion in a certain direction ; flow ; 
tend : as, the tide sets to the north ; the current 
sets westward. 
The old bookseller with some grumbling opened his 
shop, and by the twinkling taper (for he was setting bed- 
wards) lighted out the relic from his dusty treasures. 
Lamb, Old China. 
And his soul set to grief, as the vast tide 
Of the bright rocking Ocean sets to shore 
At the full moon. 
M. Arnold, Sohrab and Rustum. 
Trust me, cousin, all the current of my being sets to thee. 
Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
7. To point game by crouching, in the original 
manner, now obsolete, of a setter dog; more 
rarely, to hunt game with the aid of a setter ; 
also, formerly, to catch birds with a large net. 
When I go a-hawkingor setting, I think myself beholden 
to him that assures me that in such a field there is a 
covey of partridges. Boyle. (Johnson.) 
8. To make a beginning; apply one's self: as, 
to set to work. 
If he sets industriously and sincerely to perform the 
commands of Christ. Hammond. 
The gale set to its work, and the sea arose in earnest. 
A D. Blaclnnore, Maid of Sker, x. 
9. To face one's partner in dancing. 
