set out
Britishverb
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to present, arrange, or display
he set the flowers out in the vase
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to give a full account of; explain exactly
he set out the matter in full
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to plan or lay out (a garden, etc)
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(intr) to begin or embark on an undertaking, esp a journey
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Begin an earnest attempt, as in He set out to prove his point , or We accomplished what we set out to do . [Late 1800s]
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Lay out systematically, as in She set out all the reports in chronological order . [Second half of 1500s]
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Display for exhibition or sale, as in The Japanese restaurant set out samples of all the different kinds of sushi . [c. 1300]
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Plant, as in It was time to set out the seedlings . [Early 1800s]
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Begin a journey, as in They set out at dawn . [Late 1500s]
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.
Set out in a masterplan by a Glasgow City Council committee in 2019, the preferred layout for the Water Row development "could not include" either of two showpeople yards currently occupying the site.
From BBC • Aug. 30, 2025
Set out ice cream and allow to soften.
From Salon • Aug. 24, 2023
Set out to memorialize the glories of an embattled art form, and you may end up contributing to its obituary.
From New York Times • Dec. 6, 2022
Set out during a labor shortage after the Berlin Wall went up, the welcome mat for Gastarbeiter was rolled up in the early 1970s when the global oil crisis paralyzed Europe’s powerhouse economy.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 28, 2021
At last Blackberry said, “What’s to be done? Set out again?”
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
