set-to
Americannoun
plural
set-tosverb
-
to begin working
-
to start fighting
noun
-
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]
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.
Itching for a robust little set-to, they rode around waving the California Republic’s Bear Flag — which by then was a states’ rights symbol.
From Los Angeles Times
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
The three-issue set-to opened in Marvel Mystery Comics No. 8 and is an early example of the Marvel motto “to reflect the world outside your window.”
From New York Times
We’ve not talked yet about tonight’s Italy v Switzerland set-to, perhaps the pick of today’s matches.
From The Guardian
Or the wild, capering set-to in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid the year he left the Camp Nou triumphant but exhausted.
From The Guardian
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.
