Note: The use of the verb set for sit in such expressions as, the hen is setting on thirteen eggs; a setting hen, etc., although colloquially common, and sometimes tolerated in serious writing, is not to be approved. To set about, to commence; to begin. — To set forward, to move or march; to begin to march; to advance. — To set forth, to begin a journey. — To set in. (a) To begin; to enter upon a particular state; as, winter set in early. (b) To settle one's self; to become established. "When the weather was set in to be very bad." Addyson. (c) To flow toward the shore; — said of the tide. — To set off. (a) To enter upon a journey; to start. (b) (Typog.) To deface or soil the next sheet; — said of the ink on a freshly printed sheet, when another sheet comes in contract with it before it has had time to dry. — To set on or upon. (a) To begin, as a journey or enterprise; to set about. He that would seriously set upon the search of truth. Locke. (b) To assault; to make an attack. Bacon. Cassio hath here been set on in the dark. Shak. — 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 the world. — To set to, to apply one's self to. — To set up. (a) To begin business or a scheme of life; as, to set up in trade; to set up for one's self. (b) To profess openly; to make pretensions. Those men who set up for mortality without regard to religion, are generally but virtuous in part. Swift.
SET
Set, a.
1. Fixed in position; immovable; rigid; as, a set line; a set countenance.
2. Firm; unchanging; obstinate; as, set opinions or prejudices.
3. Regular; uniform; formal; as, a set discourse; a set battle. "The set phrase of peace." Shak.
4. Established; prescribed; as, set forms of prayer.
5. Adjusted; arranged; formed; adapted. Set hammer. (a) A hammer the head of which is not tightly fastened upon the handle, but may be reversed. Knight. (b) A hammer with a concave face which forms a die for shaping anything, as the end of a bolt, rivet, etc. — Set line, a line to which a number of baited hooks are attached, and which, supported by floats and properly secured, may be left unguarded during the absence of the fisherman. — Set nut, a jam nut or lock nut. See under Nut. — Set screw (Mach.), a screw, sometimes cupped or printed at one end, and screwed through one part, as of a machine, tightly upon another part, to prevent the one from slipping upon the other. — Set speech, a speech carefully prepared before it is delivered in public; a formal or methodical speech.
SET
Set, n.
1. The act of setting, as of the sun or other heavenly body; descent; hence, the close; termination. "Locking at the set of day." Tennyson. The weary sun hath made a golden set. Shak.
2. That which is set, placed, or fixed. Specifically: — (a) A young plant for growth; as, a set of white thorn. (b) That which is staked; a wager; a venture; a stake; hence, a game at venture. [Obs. or R.] We will in France, by God's grace, play a set Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard. Shak. That was but civil war, an equal set. Dryden. (c) (Mech.)