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:
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 ● Apr. 12, 2024
What was most striking about this set-to was how much Warren seemed to be enjoying it.
From The New Yorker ● May 17, 2016
I called Mr. Smith about our set-to in 2010.
From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2014
France complained to Fifa after spotting one monitoring their leg-stretches at Botafogo’s Santa Cruz stadium, causing the tournament’s first set-to.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 21, 2014
They woke up every man in the college, and there was a regular set-to in the quad, and the night porter at Pembroke got a most terrible black eye.
From Sinister Street, vol. 2 by Compton MacKenzie
There could be even fewer students in the future—as the birthrate falls, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. is set to decline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
UK Labour ministers are set to make a decision on both projects after consultations closed in recent weeks.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
The number of complaints has soared recently and is set to hit a record in 2026, with nearly 500 reported so far this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
But there is still a divide among the more than 400 Labour MPs about what policy areas should be prioritised at a time when the financial situation looks set to be tricky for some time.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
And as he had seen horses work, so he was set to work, hauling François on a sled to the forest that fringed the valley, and returning with a load of firewood.
From "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London
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
Despite the sister's gabby gossiping, the kids' shenanigans, the marital jawings and set-tos, the dress for the party and the dressing for the party, there are bogeys at the stairhead and phantoms outside the window.
From Time Magazine Archive
His lofty, condescending manner irritated her and, as he seemed to enjoy joking at her expense, the pair had some amusing set-tos.
From Kent Knowles: Quahaug by Joseph Crosby Lincoln
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.
