setter

American  

[set-er] / ˈsɛt ər /

noun

setters plural

1. a person or thing that sets.

2. one of any of several breeds of hunting dogs that originally had the habit of crouching when game was scented but that are now trained to stand stiffly and point the muzzle toward the scented game.

3. Volleyball. a player who lofts the ball high for a teammate near the net to spike.

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setter British  

/ ˈsɛtə /

noun

1. any of various breeds of large gun dog, having silky coats and plumed tails See English setter Gordon setter Irish setter

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• setters
  plural

Etymology

Origin of setter

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at set, -er ¹

Explanation

A setter is a breed of dog that's sporty and good at hunting. Most setters are energetic, friendly dogs with long, silky hair. Setters have been around since the 1400s, bred to be experts at catching the scent of a pheasant or quail in the air. Well-trained Irish and English setters assist hunters by standing absolutely still when they smell game birds, originally crouching or setting to indicate where they were. Another kind of setter is someone who places, or sets, the letters and numbers in typeface, lining up the words in a newspaper headline before it's printed, for example.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

setter setters

The central midfielder is Panama's tempo setter and creative spark, working tirelessly in and out of possession and showcasing an impressive ability to wriggle out of tight spaces and drive the team upfield.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

“It’s been particularly dramatic for the U.K.,” said Catherine L. Mann, a rate setter at the BOE.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

RJ Francisco of Granada Hills had 19 kills and setter Shawn Meza contributed 46 assists.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026

Mir became the pace setter after the 28-year-old clocked 1 min 56.874 sec on his Honda machine after 11 laps, to become the fastest rider over two days of testing in Malaysia.

From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026

It was a large gray-and-brown creature, bigger than a setter, with a huge slavering mouth.

From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt

That could assuage ECB rate setters who fear the energy shock since the start of the Iran war could lead to more persistent second-round inflationary effects, such as through increased wage demands.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

A number of rate setters were already prepared to back a rise in borrowing costs at their April meeting, the European Central Bank said Thursday, likely underpinning expectations for a move next month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

The ECB held its key rate at 2.0% last week, but President Christine Lagarde said that rate setters had discussed the possibility of a rate hike.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026

While the jump in expected inflation to twice the ECB’s target will concern rate setters, other findings were more reassuring.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

The glossy pages of succeeding months blossom around it: landscapes of fluted mountains for 1964; a curious collection of Irish setters and pugs in 1969; twelve varieties of jasmine for each month of 1973.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García