King James Bible Dictionary

SET, verb transitive preterit tense participle passive set. [Latin sedo; to compose, as a book, to dispose or put in order, to establish, found or institute, to possess, to cease; Latin 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. Genesis 9:13.

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. Matthew 10:35.

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. Genesis 4:15.

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.

Set thy own songs, and sing them to they 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.

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 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. Colossians 3:2.

-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. Ecclesiastes 8:11.

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 day.

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.

19. To stake at play. [Little used.]

20. To offer a wager at dice to another. [Little used.]

21. To fix in metal.

And him to 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.

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 19:1.

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 he will soon setabout it.

To set one's self against, to place in a state of emnity or opposition.

The king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. Ezekiel 24:2.

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 aside, to omit for the present; to lay out of the question.

Setting aside all 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 judgement.

To set abroach, to spread.

To set a-going, to cause to begin to move.

To set by, to set apart or on on side; to reject. [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 fix on a resolve. [Little used.]

5. To fix; to establish; to ordain.

This law we may name eternal, being that order which God hathset down with himself for himself to do all things by. Hooker.

To set forth, to manifest; to offer our present to view.

2. To publish; to promulgate; to make appear.

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.

To set forward, to advance; to move on; also, to promote.

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 pompus 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 is 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 withsettled purpose.

It becomes a true lover to have your own 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.]

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. [Not elegant and little used.] Addison.

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 hainous his sin was. [Little used and not elegant.] Atterbury.

8. In law, to recite; to state at large.

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.

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; as, to set up a new opinion or doctrine.

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, etc.

To set at naught, to undervalue; to contemn; to despise.

Ye have set at naught all my counsel. Proverbs 1:25.

To set in order, to adjust or arrange; to reduce to method.

The rest will I set in order when I come. 1 Corinthians 11:34.

To set eyes on, to see; to behold; or to fix the eyes in looking on.

To set the teeth on edge, to affect the teeth with painful sensation.

To set over, to appoint or constitute 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.

To set on fire, to communicate fire to; to inflame; and figuratively, to enkindle the passions; to make rage; to irritate; to fill with disorder.

To set before, to offer; to propose; to present to view.

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.

SET, verb intransitive

1. To decline; to go down; to pass below the horizin; as, the sun sets; the stars set.

2. To be fixed hard; to be close or firm.

3. To fit music to words.

4. To congeal or concrete.

That fluid 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.'

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.

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.

To set in, to begin. Winter in New England, usually sets in

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. Numbers 10:17.

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.

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 in the world.

2. To have a beginning.

To set to, to apply one's self to.

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.

SET, participle passive

1. Placed; put; located; fixed; adjusted; composed; studded or adorned; reduced, as a dislocated or broken bone.

2. adjective 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.

SET, noun

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.

3. A number of persons customarily or officialy associated, as a set of men, a set of officers; or a number of persons having a simlitude 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, etc. 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.

5. A young plant for growth; as sets of white thorn or other shrub.

6. The descent of the sun or other other below the horizon; as the set of the sun.

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.