set

/set/ verb (present participle setting, past tense and past participle set)

Definition

A TIME [T] › to arrange a time when something will happen: [often passive] The next meeting is set for 6 February.

LEVEL [T] › to decide the level of something: The interest rate has been set at 5%.

MACHINE [T] › to press switches on a machine so that it will start when you want it to: I've set the alarm for 6.30. [+ to do sth] Can you set the video to record 'Neighbours' please?

set an example/a record/a standard, etc › to do something in a way that people will copy or try to improve on: Try to set a good example to the children. She's set a new world record with that jump.

set fire to sth; set sth on fire › to make something start burning

set sb free › to allow someone to leave prison, or to allow a person or animal to escape

set sth alight › to make something start burning

set the table › to put plates, knives, forks, etc on the table before you have a meal

SUN [I] › When the sun sets, it moves down in the sky so that it cannot be seen: The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

BECOME SOLID [I] › If a liquid substance sets, it becomes solid: How long does cement take to set?

SCHOOL WORK [T] UK › If you set work or an exam at a school or college, you ask the students to do it: [+ two objects] Mr Harley forgot to set us any maths homework.

set sth down/on, etc › to put something somewhere: She set the vase down on the table.

BOOK/FILM/PLAY [T] › If a book, play, or film is set in a place or period of time, the story happens there or at that time: [often passive] It's a historical adventure set in India in the 1940s.

set to work › to start working

(Definition of set verb from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)