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.
He set out to use the firm’s commodity-chemical sales to finance what Mr. Werth calls “a more innovative organization for discovering new products.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
"We set out to identify cells that push the self-destruct button but survive anyway," Braun explains.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
Athlos set out to be different, and it definitely felt that.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Unless you actually set out to defraud the insurer, the company may not cancel your coverage even if you made a mistake on your application.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 12, 2026
Thirty seconds after she sat down, Kat entered the room to set out plates.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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.
