verb To put (something) down, to rest.
Synonyms: lay, put, "set down"
Example: Set the tray there.
verb To attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place.
Example: I have set my heart on running the marathon.
verb To put in a specified condition or state; to cause to be.
verb To start (a fire).
Synonyms: light
verb To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a spot.
Example: to set a coach in the mud
verb To determine or settle.
Example: to set the rent
verb To adjust.
Example: I set the alarm at 6 a.m.
verb To punch (a nail) into wood so that its head is below the surface.
verb To arrange with dishes and cutlery, to set the table.
Example: Please set the table for our guests.
verb To introduce or describe.
Example: I’ll tell you what happened, but first let me set the scene.
verb To locate (a play, etc.); to assign a backdrop to, geographically or temporally.
Example: He says he will set his next film in France.
verb To compile, to make (a puzzle or challenge).
Example: This crossword was set by Araucaria.
verb To prepare (a stage or film set).
verb To fit (someone) up in a situation.
verb To arrange (type).
Example: It was a complex page, but he set it quickly.
verb To devise and assign (work) to.
Example: The teacher set her students the task of drawing a foot.
verb To direct (the ball) to a teammate for an attack.
verb To solidify.
Example: The glue sets in four minutes.
verb To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle.
Example: to set milk for cheese
verb Of a heavenly body, to disappear below the horizon of a planet, etc, as the latter rotates.
Example: The moon sets at eight o'clock tonight.
verb To defeat a contract.
verb (now followed by "out", as in set out) To begin to move; to go forth.
verb To produce after pollination.
Example: to set seed
verb (of fruit) To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form.
verb (Midwestern US) To sit (be in a seated position).
Example: He sets in that chair all day.
verb To hunt game with the aid of a setter.
verb Of a dog, to indicate the position of game.
Example: The dog sets the bird.
verb To apply oneself; to undertake earnestly.
verb To fit music to words.
verb To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant.
Example: to set pear trees in an orchard
verb To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened.
verb To have a certain direction of motion; to flow; to move on; to tend.
Example: The current sets to the north; the tide sets to the windward.
verb (country dancing) To acknowledge a dancing partner by facing him or her and moving first to one side and then to the other, while she or he does the opposite.
Example: Set to partners! was the next instruction from the caller.
verb To place or fix in a setting.
Example: to set a precious stone in a border of metal
verb To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare.
Example: to set (that is, to hone) a razor
verb To extend and bring into position; to spread.
Example: to set the sails of a ship
verb To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote.
Example: to set a psalm
verb To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state.
Example: to set a broken bone
verb To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure.
verb To wager in gambling; to risk.
verb To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there.
verb To value; to rate; used with at.
verb To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign.
Example: to set a good example
verb To suit; to become.
Example: It sets him ill.