- (n.) A stone, commonly of granite, shaped like a short brick and usually somewhat larger than one, used for street paving. Commonly written sett.
- (n.) Any of various standards of measurement of the fineness of cloth; specifically, 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.
- (n.) The manner, state or quality of setting or fitting; fit; as, the set of a coat.
- (n.) Camber of a curved roofing tile.
- (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).
- (n.) A young plant for growth; as, a set of white thorn.
- (n.) Direction or course; as, the set of the wind or of a current.
- (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 reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; to replace; as, to set a broken bone.
- (v.t.) To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle; as, to set milk for cheese.
- (v.t.) To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote; as, to set a psalm.
- (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.
- (n.) A short steel spike used for driving the head of a nail below the surface.
- (v.t.) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure.
- (v.t.) To make to agree with some standard; as, to set a watch or a clock.
- (n.) A young oyster when first attached.
- (v.i.) To pass below the horizon; to go down; to decline; to sink out of sight; to come to an end.
- (v.t.) To point out the seat or position of, as birds or other game; -- said of hunting dogs.
- (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.t.) To fit with music; to adapt, as words to notes; to prepare for singing.
- (a.) Adjusted; arranged; formed; adapted.
- (v.t.) To extend and bring into position; to spread; as, to set the sails of a ship.
- (v.i.) To fit music to words.
- (n.) The act of setting, as of the sun or other heavenly body; descent; hence, the close; termination.
- (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.) Permanent change of figure in consequence of excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.; as, the set of a spring.
- (v.t.) To fix in the ground, as a post or a tree; to plant; as, to set pear trees in an orchard.
- (imp.&p.p.) of Set.
- (n.) That which is staked; a wager; a venture; a stake; hence, a game at venture.
- (v.t.) To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there.
- (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.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.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 compose; to arrange in words, lines, etc.; as, to set type; to set a page.
- (v.i.) To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened.
- (a.) Regular; uniform; formal; as, a set discourse; a set battle.
- (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.
- (n.) Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality.
- (v.t.) To fix firmly; to make fast, permanent or stable; to render motionless; to give an unchanging place, form or condition to.
- (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.
- (v.t.) To put into a desired position or condition; to adjust; to regulate; to adapt.
- (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.i.) To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant.
- (a.) Established; prescribed; as, set forms of prayer.
- (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.
- (v.i.) To apply one's self; to undertake earnestly; -- now followed by out.
- (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.) That dimension of the body of a type called by printers the width.
- (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.i.) To fit or suit one; to sit; as, the coat sets well.
- (n.) In dancing, the number of persons necessary to execute a quadrille; also, the series of figures or movements executed.
- (v.t.) Hence, to attach or affix (something) to something else or in or upon a certain place.
- (v.t.) To stake at play; to wager; to risk.
- (n.) That which is set, placed or fixed.
- (a.) Firm; unchanging; obstinate; as, set opinions or prejudices.
- (n.) A number of persons associated by custom, office, common opinion, quality or the like; a division; a group; a clique.
- (v.i.) To congeal; to concrete; to solidify.
- (n.) A kind of punch used for bending, indenting or giving shape to, metal; as, a saw set.
- (v.t.) To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill.
- (v.t.) To value; to rate; -- with at.
- (a.) Fixed in position; immovable; rigid; as, a set line; a set countenance.
- (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.i.) To begin to move; to go out or forth; to start; -- now followed by out.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). set. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/set/definitions/2060836 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "set" http://smartdefine.org/set/definitions/2060836 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, set, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/set/definitions/2060836>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "set" 28 May 2011. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/set/definitions/2060836> |