setup
Americannoun
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organization; arrangement.
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an act or instance of setting up or getting ready.
The setup of the lights and camera took most of the morning.
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the carriage of the body; bearing.
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a camera position, as for a particular shot.
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everything required for an alcoholic drink except the liquor, as a glass, ice, and soda water, as served to patrons who provide their own liquor.
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Informal.
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an undertaking or contest deliberately made easy.
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a match or game arranged with an opponent who can be defeated without risk or effort.
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an opponent easy to defeat.
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Sports.
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a shot or play that results in a puck, shuttlecock, ball, or balls being so positioned as to provide a player with an easy opportunity for a winning shot.
a playmaker who excels in setups.
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the position of such a puck, ball, etc..
a setup close to and to the left of the goalkeeper.
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the puck, ball, etc., itself.
The wing banged the setup into the goal.
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an arrangement of all the tools, parts, apparatus, etc., necessary for any of various specific jobs or purposes.
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the equipment or items necessary for a particular activity or period; kit.
Each student gets a weekly setup of clean blankets, sheets, and towels.
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a plan or projected course of action.
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a prearranged situation or circumstance, usually created to fool or trap someone; trick; scheme.
Usage
See login.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of setup
First recorded in 1600–10; noun use of verb phrase set up
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On Thursday, Anthropic reported a similar mishap whereby a setup error allowed its Claude models to reach the open internet during safety evaluations and compromise the infrastructure of three real-world organizations.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 2, 2026
The company charges a platform setup fee then charges per resolution.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
In the U-M setup, the material absorbs the incoming light through two pathways at the same time.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
But after a familiar setup, the movie stubbornly refuses to go in compelling new directions or offer fresh observations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Our setup was typical of most immigrant families: the mom and dad tried to make ends meet, while the kids took care of each other.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Unlike Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, or Hope and Crosby, who relied on tightly scripted setups, this disparate yet kindred duo captured America’s heart by being viscerally, uproariously and unpredictably wild.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
By the early 1990s, some crews in the U.K. began throwing megaraves more spiritually akin to experiential carnivals than to more lowkey dance-floor-and-DJ setups.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
But this is only a memory — a child’s version of an experience, filmed with all of the bright colors and simple setups of an illustration in a storybook.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
Demand for advanced memory modules in the most cutting-edge AI-computing setups far outstrips supply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Photos from the apartment setups and different families are rotating on the screen, and Rabiya points to one with a mother, father, and three kids when it comes up again.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
