set-to
noun
a usually brief, sharp fight or argument.
set-to
American
[set-too]
/ ˈsɛtˌtu /
noun
set-tos
plural
set to
British
verb
-
to begin working
-
to start fighting
noun
set to
Idioms
-
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]
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Black leaders and groups sponsored the first Black float, “Freedom Bursts Forth,” for the 1964 parade, after a very public set-to over the parade’s absence of people of color.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2022
The paradox of this ferocious set-to was that it came almost immediately after MPs had spent slightly under three hours lavishing praise on Bercow.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 31, 2019
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
Such a lively set-to they had not seen in many a day.
From The Battleship Boys at Sea Two Apprentices in Uncle Sam's Navy by Patchin, Frank Gee
Farage is set to meet with the Home Office over his security arrangements, after accepting an offer of a meeting made by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Fang is in federal custody after being arrested Friday and is set to have a detention hearing Thursday, where a judge will decide whether he will be released while his case is pending.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to visit the frontier zone on Wednesday, where workers have in recent weeks taken down the old chain-link fencing between Gibraltar and Spain.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh is set to present a monetary-policy report to the House Financial Services Committee.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
At last they set to work, but Eurycleia climbed the stairs to her mistress’s chamber.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
It’s qualitatively different from the kind of tiredness that comes from an afternoon of set-tos and whining when you and your kid are stuck in a room together.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2019
During the day he cares for the inmates, consoling them, moderating their set-tos and tenderly putting them, when the time comes, to sleep.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2018
But the formal strictures of such set-tos mask the fact that debate, in its loosest form, is something most people engage in almost daily.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2010
Roger Kahn was on the beat too back in the '50s, when Gallagher's and Toots Shor's were auxiliary press boxes for regular Yankees-Dodgers set-tos.
From Time Magazine Archive
There will be some grand set-tos between mother and Robert.
From A Reconstructed Marriage by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
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.
