set-to
Americannoun
plural
set-tosverb
-
to begin working
-
to start fighting
noun
-
Apply oneself, begin, work energetically, as in We set to revamping our policy on child care , or She set to studying for the bar exam . [Early 1400s]
-
Begin fighting, as in Both of them were furious, and they set to immediately . [First half of 1700s]
Etymology
Origin of set-to
First recorded in 1735–45; noun use of verb phrase set to
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.
Itching for a robust little set-to, they rode around waving the California Republic’s Bear Flag — which by then was a states’ rights symbol.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2024
What was most striking about this set-to was how much Warren seemed to be enjoying it.
From The New Yorker • May 17, 2016
Back in the United States, Nixon, poised to run for the presidency, gained stature as a tough anti-Communist in his set-to with Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union.
From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2016
Originally scheduled for July 2015, the superhero set-to will now appear on 6 May, 2016.
From BBC • Jan. 19, 2014
He showed his exhaustion plainly after that, and his limbs quivered when he went out for the third set-to.
From Frank Merriwell's Return to Yale by Standish, Burt L.
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.
