Meaning

• To put (something) down, to rest.

  "Set the tray there."

• To attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place.

  "I have set my heart on running the marathon."

• To put in a specified condition or state; to cause to be.

• To start (a fire).

• To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a spot.

  "to set a coach in the mud"

• To determine or settle.

  "to set the rent"

• To adjust.

  "I set the alarm at 6 a.m."

• To punch (a nail) into wood so that its head is below the surface.

• To arrange with dishes and cutlery, to set the table.

  "Please set the table for our guests."

• To introduce or describe.

  "I’ll tell you what happened, but first let me set the scene."

• To locate (a play, etc.); to assign a backdrop to, geographically or temporally.

  "He says he will set his next film in France."

• To compile, to make (a puzzle or challenge).

  "This crossword was set by Araucaria."

• To prepare (a stage or film set).

• To fit (someone) up in a situation.

• To arrange (type).

  "It was a complex page, but he set it quickly."

• To devise and assign (work) to.

  "The teacher set her students the task of drawing a foot."

• To direct (the ball) to a teammate for an attack.

• To solidify.

  "The glue sets in four minutes."

• To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle.

  "to set milk for cheese"

• Of a heavenly body, to disappear below the horizon of a planet, etc, as the latter rotates.

  "The moon sets at eight o'clock tonight."

• To defeat a contract.

• (now followed by "out", as in set out) To begin to move; to go forth.

• To produce after pollination.

  "to set seed"

• (of fruit) To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form.

• (Midwestern US) To sit (be in a seated position).

  "He sets in that chair all day."

• To hunt game with the aid of a setter.

• Of a dog, to indicate the position of game.

  "The dog sets the bird."

• To apply oneself; to undertake earnestly.

• To fit music to words.

• To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant.

  "to set pear trees in an orchard"

• To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened.

• To have a certain direction of motion; to flow; to move on; to tend.

  "The current sets to the north; the tide sets to the windward."

• (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.

  "Set to partners! was the next instruction from the caller."

• To place or fix in a setting.

  "to set a precious stone in a border of metal"

• To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare.

  "to set (that is, to hone) a razor"

• To extend and bring into position; to spread.

  "to set the sails of a ship"

• To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote.

  "to set a psalm"

• To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state.

  "to set a broken bone"

• To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure.

• To wager in gambling; to risk.

• To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there.

• To value; to rate; used with at.

• To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign.

  "to set a good example"

• To suit; to become.

  "It sets him ill."