Part 268

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." Addison. (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 contact 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.

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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, 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.) Permanent change of figure in consequence of excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.; as, the set of a spring.

(d) A kind of punch used for bending, indenting, or giving shape to, metal; as, a saw set.

(e) (Pile Driving) 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. [Often incorrectly written sett.]