set-in

[ set-in ]

/ ˈsɛtˌɪn /

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adjective

made separately and placed within another unit.

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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

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Origin of set-in

First recorded in 1525–35; adj. use of verb phrase set in

Words nearby set-in

Seth, SETI, setiferous, setiform, setigerous, set-in, set in motion, set-in sleeve, setireme, set-jetting, setline

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use set-in in a sentence

When cities started adding chlorine to their water supplies, in the early 1900s, it set off public outcry.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Submission is set in a France seven years from now that is dominated by a Muslim president intent on imposing Islamic law.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In the last year, her fusion exercise class has attracted a cult following and become de rigueur among the celebrity set.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I wonder what that lady is doing now, and if she knows what she set in motion with Archer?
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS|Marlow Stern|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Empire will be hate-watched and may set off some conversations on its way from fading from our minds.
‘Empire’ Review: Hip-Hop Musical Chairs with an Insane Soap Opera Twist|Judnick Mayard|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You would not think it too much to set the whole province in flames so that you could have your way with this wretched child.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
I take the Extream Bells, and set down the six Changes on them thus.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman
She set off down Trafalgar Road in the mist and the rain, glad that she had been compelled to walk.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
Good is set against evil, and life against death: so also is the sinner against a just man.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
He set down as the second the golden rule, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them.”
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne

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

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

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

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