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set-in

[ set-in ]
/ ˈsɛtˌɪn /
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adjective
made separately and placed within another unit.
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Origin of set-in

First recorded in 1525–35; adj. use of verb phrase set in
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to set-in

fixed, ingrained, installed, planted, appear, begin, crop up, derive, emanate, emerge, ensue, happen, occur, originate, result, rise, stem, arise, commence, erupt

How to use set-in in a sentence

  • Those wide seams in the whitewashed ceiling must mean the cracks due to a set-in door.

    The Girl in the Mirror|Elizabeth Garver Jordan

  • In general the strongest flood does not set-in till Midsummer.

    Lachesis Lapponica|Carl von Linn

  • "It's a set-in rain, and we're goin' to have a hard time," Hubert complained.

    Captain Ted|Louis Pendleton

  • Fine weather may, perhaps, have set-in in the interval in all parts of the mountains.

    Western Himalaya and Tibet|Thomas Thomson

British Dictionary definitions for set-in

set in
verb (intr, adverb)
to become establishedthe winter has set in
(of wind) to blow or (of current) to move towards shore
adjective set-in
(of a part) made separately and then added to a larger wholea set-in sleeve
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 set-in

set in
1

Insert, put in, as in I still have to set in the sleeves and then the sweater will be done. [Late 1300s]

2

Begin to happen or become apparent, as in Darkness was setting in as I left. [c. 1700]

3

Move toward the shore, said of wind or water, as in The tide sets in very quickly here. [Early 1700s]

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