setout

[ set-out ]

nounInformal.
  1. preparations, especially for beginning a journey.

  2. start or outset.

  1. things set or laid out for use or display, as food on a table.

  2. getup or outfit.

  3. an entertaining event.

Origin of setout

1
First recorded in 1800–10; noun use of verb phrase set out

Words Nearby setout

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use setout in a sentence

  • As soon as the victims proved favourable they all setout, the Arcadians following with the rest.

    Anabasis | Xenophon

British Dictionary definitions for set out

set out

verb(adverb, mainly tr)
  1. to present, arrange, or display: he set the flowers out in the vase

  2. to give a full account of; explain exactly: he set out the matter in full

  1. to plan or lay out (a garden, etc)

  2. (intr) to begin or embark on an undertaking, esp a journey

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with setout

setout

Begin an earnest attempt, as in He set out to prove his point, or We accomplished what we set out to do. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.