set
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sĕt
ipa: /sɛt/
homophone: sett
rhymes: -ɛt
Forms: form: sets
Etymology: From Middle English set, sette, from Old English set (“seat, place of residence, camp, settlement, entrenchment, stable, pen”), from Proto-West Germanic *set (“seat”), from Proto-Germanic *setą (“seat”).
Senses: examples: text: nail set
glosses: A punch for setting nails in wood.
examples: text: television set
glosses: A device for receiving broadcast radio waves (or, more recently, broadcast data); a radio or television.
glosses: Alternative form of sett (“a hole made and lived in by a badger”).
glosses: Alternative form of sett (“pattern of threads and yarns”).
glosses: Alternative form of sett (“piece of quarried stone”).
topics: agriculture
business
horticulture
lifestyle
glosses: A small tuber or bulb used instead of seed, particularly onion sets and potato sets.
glosses: The amount by which the teeth of a saw protrude to the side in order to create the kerf.
examples: text: the set of a spring
text: The wings were bent or set permanently 2 to 3 inches upward at the wingtips; however, the set was within the manufacturer's allowable tolerances.
ref: 1986 March 29, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.12 Wreckage and Impact Information”, in Aircraft Accident Report: China Airlines Boeing 747-SP, N4522V, 300 Nautical Miles Northwest of San Francisco, California, February 19, 1985, archived from the original on 10 Jul 2022, page 12:
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A permanent change of shape caused by excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.
glosses: A bias of mind; an attitude or pattern of behaviour.
topics: business
construction
manufacturing
piledriving
glosses: A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot otherwise be reached by the weight, or hammer.
topics: media
printing
publishing
glosses: The width of the body of a type.
glosses: A young oyster when first attached.
glosses: Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality.
glosses: A series or group of something. (Note the similar meaning in Etymology 4, Noun)
examples: text: the set of a coat
text: So much of our culture, hidden by necessity for so long, involves subtle codes and signals: the set of her shoulders, the sway of his hips.
ref: 1984 December 29, Amy Hoffman, “Dyke Detectives Solve Murder Mysteries”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 25, page 7:
glosses: The manner, state, or quality of setting or fitting; fit.
glosses: The pattern of a tartan, etc.
glosses: The camber of a curved roofing tile.
glosses: The full number of eggs set under a hen.
examples: text: We will in France, by God's grace, play a set / Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.
ref: 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
text: That was but civil war, an equal set.
ref: 1687, [John Dryden], “(please specify the page number)”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
text: Thenceforth the Dowager, with a light and careless humour, often recounted to her particular acquaintance how, after a hard trial, she had found it impossible to know those people who belonged to Henry’s wife, and who had made that desperate set to catch him.
ref: 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
glosses: That which is staked; a wager; hence, a gambling game.
glosses: A tool for dressing forged iron.
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: butt set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: compression set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: dead set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: level set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: marzipan set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: offset
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: onset
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: outset
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: seam set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: set dec
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: set dresser
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: set light
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: set-off
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: set tool
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: set-top box
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: stop set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: television set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: time-point set
sense: Terms derived from set (noun)
word: TV set