SET, v.t. pret. pp. set. [L. sedo; to compose, as a book, to dispose or put in order, to establish, found or institute, to possess, to cease; L. sedo, sedeo and sido, coinciding with sit, but all of one family. From the Norman orthography of this word, we have assess, assise. See Assess. Heb. Ch. to set, to place.]

1. To put or place; to fix or cause to rest in a standing posture. We set a house on a wass of stone; we set a book on a shelf. In this use, set differs from lay; we set a thing on its end or basis; we lay it on its side.

2. To put or place in its proper or natural posture. We set a chest or trunk on its bottom, not its end; we set a bedstead or a table on its feet or laeg.

3. To put, place or fix in any situation. God set the sun, moon and stars in the firmament.

I do set my bow in the cloud. Gen 9.

4. To put into any condition or state.

The Lord the God will set thee on high. Duet. 28.

I am come to set a man at variance against his father. Matt. 10.

So we say, to set in order, to set at ease, to set to work, or at work.

5. To put; to fix; to attach to.

The Lord set a mark upon Cain. Gen. 4.

So we say, to set a label on a vial or a bale.

6. To fix; to render motionless; as, the eyes are set, the jaws are set.

7. To put or fix, as a price. We set a price on a house, farm or horse.

8. To fix; to state by some rule.

The gentleman spoke with a set gesture and countenance. Carew.

The town of Berne has handsome fountains planted and set distances from one end of the street to the other. Addison.

9. To regulate or adjust; as, to set a timepiece by the sun.

He sets judgement by his passion. Prior.

10. To fit to music; to adapt with notes; as, to set the words of a psalm to music.

1. A number or collection of things of the same kind and of similar form, which are ordinarily used together; as, a set of chairs; a set of tea-cups; a set of China or other ware.
2. A number of things fitted to be used together, though different in form; as, a set of dining-tables. A set implies more than two, which are called a pair.
3. A number of persons customarily or officially associated, as, a set of men, a set of officers; or a number of persons having a similitude of character, or of things which have some resemblance or relation to each other. Hence our common phrase, a set of opinions. This falls into different divisions or sets of nations connected under particular religions, &c. Ward's Law of Nations.
4. A number of particular things that are united in the formation of a whole; as, a set of features. – Addison.
5. A young plant for growth; as, sets of white thorn or other shrub. – Encyc.
6. The descent of the sun or other luminary below the horizon; as, the set of the sun. – Atterbury.
7. A wager at dice. That was but civil war, an equal set. – Dryden.
8. A game. We will, in France, play a set / Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard. – Shak.

In architecture, a horizontal projection from a wall.

1. Placed; put; located; fixed; adjusted; composed; studded or adorned; reduced, as a dislocated or broken bone.
2. adj. Regular; uniform; formal; as, a set speech or phrase; a set discourse; a set battle.
3. Fixed in opinion; determined; firm; obstinate; as, a man set in his opinions or way.
4. Established; prescribed; as, set forms of prayer.

1. To decline; to go down; to pass below the horizon; as, the sun sets; the stars set.
2. To be fixed hard; to be close or firm. – Bacon.
3. To fit music to words. – Shak.
4. To congeal or concrete. That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set. – Boyle.
5. To begin a journey. The king is set from London. [This is obsolete. We now say, to set out.]
6. To plant; as, “to sow dry, and to set wet.” – Old Proverb.
7. To flow; to have a certain direction in motion; as, the tide sets to the east or north; the current sets westward.
8. To catch birds with a dog that sets them, that is, one that lies down and points them out, and with a large net. – Boyle. To set one's self about, to begin; to enter upon; to take the first steps. To set one's self, to apply one's self. To set about, to fall on; to begin; to take the first steps in a business or enterprise. – Atterbury. To set in, to begin. Winter in New England, usually sets in in December. #2. To become settled in a particular state. When the weather was set in to be very bad. – Addison. To set forward, to move or march; to begin to march; to advance. The sons of Aaron and the sons of Merari set forward. – Num. x. To set on, or upon, to begin a journey or an enterprise. He that would seriously set upon the search of truth – Locke. #2. To assault; to make an attack. – 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. #2. To have a beginning. – Brown. To set to, to apply one's self to. – Gov. of the Tongue. To set up, to begin business or a scheme of life; as, to set up in trade; to set up for one's self. #2. To profess openly; to make pretensions. He sets up for a man of wit; he sets up to teach morality. – Dryden.

1. To put or place; fix or cause to rest in a standing position. We set a house on a wall of stone; we set a book on a shelf. In this use, set differs from lay; we set a thing on its end or basis; we lay it on its side.
2. To put or place in its proper or natural posture. We set a chest or trunk on its bottom, not on its end; we set a bedstead or a table on its feet or legs.
3. To put, place, or fix in any situation. God set the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament. I do set my bow in the cloud. Gen. ix.
4. To put into any condition or state. The Lord thy God will set thee on high. Deut. xxviii. I am come to set a man at variance against his father. Matth. x. So we say, to set in order, to set at ease, to set to work, or at work.
5. To put; to fix; to attach to. The Lord set a mark upon Cain. Gen. iv. So we say, to set a label on a vial or a bale.
6. To fix; to render motionless; as, the eyes are set; the jaws are set.
7. To put or fix, as a price. We set a price on a house, farm, or horse.
8. To fix; to state by some rule. The gentleman spoke with a set gesture and countenance. Carew. The town of Berne has handsome fountains planted at set distances from one end of the street to the other. – Addison.
9. To regulate or adjust; as, to set a time-piece by the sun. He sets his judgment by his passion. – Prior.
10. To fit to music; to adapt with notes; as, to set the words of a psalm to music. Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute. – Dryden.
11. To pitch; to begin to sing in public. He set the hundredth psalm. – Spectator.
12. To plant, as a shrub, tree, or vegetable. Prior.
13. To variegate, intersperse, or adorn with something fixed; to stud; as, to set any thing with diamonds or pearls. High on their heads, with jewels richly set, / Each lady wore a radiant coronet. – Dryden.
14. To return to its proper place or state; to replace; to reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; as, to set a bone or a leg.
15. To fix; to place; as, the heart or affections. Set your affections on things above. – Col. iii. Minds altogether set on trade and profit. – Addison.
16. To fix firmly; to predetermine. The heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. – Eccles. viii. Hence we say, a thing is done of set purpose; a man is set, that is, firm or obstinate in his opinion or way.
17. To fix by appointment; to appoint; to assign; as, to set a time for meeting; to set an hour or a day. – Bacon. South.
18. To place or station; to appoint to a particular duty. Am I a sea or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me? – Job vii.
19. To stake at play. [Little used.] – Prior.
20. To offer a wager at dice to another. [Little used.] – Shak.
21. To fix in metal. And him too rich a jewel to be set / In vulgar metal for a vulgar use. – Dryden.
22. To fix; to cause to stop; to obstruct; as, to set a coach in the mire. The wagon or the team was set at the hill, In some of the states, stall is used in a like sense.
23. To embarrass; to perplex. They are hard set to represent the bill as a grievance. – Addison.
24. To put in good order; to fix for use; to bring to a fine edge; as, to set a razor.
25. To loose and extend; to spread; as, to set the sails of a ship.
26. To point out without noise or disturbance; as, a dog sets birds. – Johnson.
27. To oppose. Will you set your wit to a fool's? – Shak.
28. To prepare with runnet for cheese; as, to set milk.
29. To dim; to darken or extinguish. Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. – 1 Kings xiv. To set by the compass, among seamen, to observe the bearing or situation of a distant object by the compass. To set about, to begin, as an action or enterprise to apply to. He has planned his enterprise, and will soon set about it. To set one's self against, to place in a state of enmity or opposition. The king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem the same day. – Ezek. xxiv. To set against, to oppose; to set in comparison, or to oppose as an equivalent in exchange; as, to set one thing against another; or to set off one thing against another. To set apart, to separate to a particular use; to separate from the rest. #2. To neglect for a time. [Not in use.] – Knolles. To set aside, to omit for the present; to lay out of the question. Setting aside other considerations, I will endeavor to know the truth and yield to that. – Tillotson. #2. To reject. I embrace that of the deluge, and set aside all the rest. – Woodward. #3. To annul; to vacate. The court set aside the verdict, or the judgment. To set abroach, to spread. – Shak. To set a-going, to cause to begin to move. To set by, to set apart or on one side; to reject. – Bacon. [In this sense, by is emphatical.] #2. To esteem; to regard; to value. [In this sense, set is pronounced with more emphasis than by.] To set down, to place upon the ground or floor. #2. To enter in writing; to register. Some rules were to be set down for the government of the army. – Clarendon. #3. To explain or relate in writing. #4. To fit on a resolve. [Little used.] – Knolles. #5. 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. To set forth, to manifest; to offer or present to view Rom. iii. #2. To publish; to promulgate; to make appear. – Waller. #3. To send out; to prepare and send. The Venetian admiral had a fleet of sixty galleys, set forth by the Venetians. [Obs.] – Knolles. #4. To display; to exhibit; to present to view; to show. – Dryden. Milton. To set forward, to advance; to move on; also, to promote. – Hooker. To set in, to put in the way to begin. If you please to assist and set me in, I will recollect myself. – Collier. To set off, to adorn; to decorate; to embellish. They set off the worst faces with the best airs. – Addison. #2. To give a pompous or flattering description of; to eulogize; to recommend; as, to set off a character. #3. To place against as an equivalent; as, to set off one man's services against another's. #4. To separate or assign for a particular purpose; as, to set off a portion of an estate. To set on or upon, to incite; to instigate; to animate to action. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this. – Shak. #2. To assault or attack; seldom used transitively, but the passive form often used. Alphonsus … was set upon by a Turkish pirate and taken. – Knolles. #3. To employ, as in a task. Set on thy wife to observe. – Shak. #4. To fix the attention; to determine to any thing with settled purpose. It becomes a true lover to have your heart more set upon her good than your own. – Sidney. To set out, to assign; to allot; as, to set out the share of each proprietor or heir of an estate; to set out the widow's thirds. #2. To publish. [Not elegant nor common.] – Swift. #3. To mark by boundaries or distinctions of space. Determinate portions of those infinite abysses of space and duration, set out, or supposed to be distinguished from all the rest by known boundaries. Locke. #4. To adorn; to embellish. An ugly woman in a rich habit, set out with jewels, nothing can become. Dryden. #5. To raise, equip and send forth; to furnish. The Venetians pretend they could set out, in case of great necessity, thirty men of war. Addison. [Not elegant and little used.] #6. To show; to display; to recommend; to set off. I could set out that best side of Luther. Atterbury. #7. To show; to prove. Those very reasons set out how heinous his sin was. [Little used and not elegant.] – Atterbury. #8. In law, to recite; to state at large. – Judge Sedgwick. To set up, to erect; as, to set up a building; to set up a post a wall, a pillar. #2. To begin a new institution; to institute; to establish; to found; as, to set up a manufactory; to set up a school. #3. To enable to commence a new business; as, to set up a son in trade. #4. To raise; to exalt; to put in power; as, to set up the throne of David over Israel. – 2 Sam. iii. #5. To place in view; as, to set up a mark. #6. To raise; to utter loudly; as, to set up the voice. I'll set up such a note as she shall hear. – Dryden. #7. To advance; to propose as truth or for reception; to set up a new opinion or doctrine. – Burnet. #8. To raise from depression or to a sufficient fortune. This good fortune quite set him up. #9. In seamen's language, to extend, as the shrouds, stays, &c. To set at naught, to undervalue; to contemn; to despise. Ye have set at naught all my counsel. – Prov. i. 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. To set eyes on, to see; to behold; or to fix the eyes in looking on; to fasten the eyes on. To set the teeth on edge, to affect the teeth with a painful sensation. To set over, to appoint or constitute as supervisor, inspector, ruler or commander. #2. To assign; to transfer; to convey. To set right, to correct; to put in order. To set at ease, to quiet; to tranquilize; as, to set the heart at ease. To set free, to release from confinement, imprisonment or bondage; to liberate; to emancipate. To set at work, to cause to enter on work or action; or to direct how to enter on work. Locke. To set on fire, to communicate fire to; to inflame; and figuratively, to enkindle the passions; to make to rage; to irritate; to fill with disorder. – James iii To set before, to offer; to propose; to present to view. – Deut. xi, xxx. To set a trap, snare or gin, to place in a situation to catch prey; to spread; figuratively, to lay a plan to deceive and draw into the power of another.

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. 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.

3. Fixed in position; immovable; rigid; as, a set line; a set countenance.
4. 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.

5. 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.
6. 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.

7. To fit music to words.
   
   
   [Obs.] Shak.
8. Firm; unchanging; obstinate; as, set opinions or prejudices.
9. That which is set, placed, or fixed.
   
   
   Specifically: -- (a)
10. A stone, commonly of granite, shaped like a short brick and usually somewhat larger than one, used for street paving. Commonly written sett.
11. 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.

12. To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant.
    
    
    "To sow dry, and set wet." Old Proverb.
13. Regular; uniform; formal; as, a set discourse; a set battle.
    
    
    "The set phrase of peace." Shak.
14. 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.]
15. Camber of a curved roofing tile.
16. To fix firmly; to make fast, permanent, or stable; to render motionless; to give an unchanging place, form, or condition to.
    
    
    Specifically: --

    (a)

17. 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).
18. Established; prescribed; as, set forms of prayer.
19. 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.

20. The manner, state, or quality of setting or fitting; fit; as, the set of a coat.
    
    
    [Colloq.]
21. To put into a desired position or condition; to adjust; to regulate; to adapt.
    
    
    Specifically: --

    (a)

22. 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.

23. Direction or course; as, the set of the wind, or of a current.
24. 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.

25. 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.

26. To congeal; to concrete; to solidify.
    
    

    That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set. Boyle.

27. In dancing, the number of persons necessary to execute a quadrille; also, the series of figures or movements executed.
28. 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.

29. 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.
30. 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.
31. To determine; to appoint; to assign; to fix; as, to set a time for a meeting; to set a price on a horse.
32. To begin to move; to go out or forth; to start; -- now followed by out.
    
    

    The king is set from London. Shak.

33. A young oyster when first attached.
    
    
    (b)
34. 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.

35. 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.
36. 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.
37. 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.

38. 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.

39. 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.

40. To point out the seat or position of, as birds, or other game; -- said of hunting dogs.
41. To fit or suit one; to sit; as, the coat sets well.
    
    
    [Colloquially used, but improperly, for sit.]

    * 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.

42. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign; as, to set an example; to set lessons to be learned.
43. To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill.
    
    
    [Scot.]
44. 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.