Definition of set

• imp. & p. p. - of Set
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - Hence, to attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - To fix firmly; to make fast, permanent, or stable; to render motionless; to give an unchanging place, form, or condition to.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - To fix beforehand; to determine; hence, to make unyielding or obstinate; to render stiff, unpliant, or rigid; as, to set one's countenance.
• v. t. - To fix in the ground, as a post or a tree; to plant; as, to set pear trees in an orchard.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle; as, to set milk for cheese.
• v. t. - To put into a desired position or condition; to adjust; to regulate; to adapt.
• v. t. - To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare; as, to set (that is, to hone) a razor; to set a saw.
• v. t. - To extend and bring into position; to spread; as, to set the sails of a ship.
• v. t. - To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote; as, to set a psalm.
• v. t. - To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; to replace; as, to set a broken bone.
• v. t. - To make to agree with some standard; as, to set a watch or a clock.
• v. t. - To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure.
• v. t. - To stake at play; to wager; to risk.
• v. t. - To fit with music; to adapt, as words to notes; to prepare for singing.
• v. t. - To determine; to appoint; to assign; to fix; as, to set a time for a meeting; to set a price on a horse.
• v. t. - To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there.
• v. t. - To value; to rate; -- with at.
• v. t. - To point out the seat or position of, as birds, or other game; -- said of hunting dogs.
• v. t. - To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign; as, to set an example; to set lessons to be learned.
• v. t. - To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill.
• v. t. - To compose; to arrange in words, lines, etc.; as, to set type; to set a page.
• v. i. - To pass below the horizon; to go down; to decline; to sink out of sight; to come to an end.
• v. i. - To fit music to words.
• v. i. - To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant.
• v. i. - 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).
• v. i. - To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened.
• v. i. - To congeal; to concrete; to solidify.
• v. i. - 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.
• v. i. - To begin to move; to go out or forth; to start; -- now followed by out.
• v. i. - 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.
• v. i. - To apply one's self; to undertake earnestly; -- now followed by out.
• v. i. - To fit or suit one; to sit; as, the coat sets well.
• a. - Fixed in position; immovable; rigid; as, a set line; a set countenance.
• a. - Firm; unchanging; obstinate; as, set opinions or prejudices.
• a. - Regular; uniform; formal; as, a set discourse; a set battle.
• a. - Established; prescribed; as, set forms of prayer.
• a. - Adjusted; arranged; formed; adapted.
• n. - The act of setting, as of the sun or other heavenly body; descent; hence, the close; termination.
• n. - That which is set, placed, or fixed.
• n. - A young plant for growth; as, a set of white thorn.
• n. - That which is staked; a wager; a venture; a stake; hence, a game at venture.
• n. - Permanent change of figure in consequence of excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.; as, the set of a spring.
• n. - A kind of punch used for bending, indenting, or giving shape to, metal; as, a saw set.
• n. - 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.
• n. - A short steel spike used for driving the head of a nail below the surface.
• n. - 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.
• n. - A number of persons associated by custom, office, common opinion, quality, or the like; a division; a group; a clique.
• n. - Direction or course; as, the set of the wind, or of a current.
• n. - In dancing, the number of persons necessary to execute a quadrille; also, the series of figures or movements executed.
• n. - 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.
• n. - A young oyster when first attached.
• n. - Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality.
• n. - 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.
• n. - That dimension of the body of a type called by printers the width.