setting
Americannoun
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settings
plural
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the act of a person or thing that sets.
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the surroundings or environment of anything.
The garden was a perfect setting for the house.
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the mounting in which a jewel is set.
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a group of all the articles, as of china, silver, or glass, required for setting a table or a single place at a table.
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the locale or period in which the action of a novel, play, film, etc., takes place.
The setting of this story is Verona in the 15th century.
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Also called stage setting. Also called stage set. the scenery and other properties used in a dramatic performance.
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Music.
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a piece of music composed for certain words.
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a piece of music composed for a particular medium, or arranged for other than the original medium.
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noun
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the surroundings in which something is set; scene
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the scenery, properties, or background, used to create the location for a stage play, film, etc
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music a composition consisting of a certain text and music provided or arranged for it
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the metal mounting and surround of a gem
diamonds in an antique gold setting
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the tableware, cutlery, etc, for a single place at table
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any of a series of points on a scale or dial that can be selected to control the level as of temperature, speed, etc, at which a machine functions
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a clutch of eggs in a bird's nest, esp a clutch of hen's eggs
Synonym Usage
See environment.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of setting
First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English; see origin at set, -ing 1
Explanation
A setting is where something is set, or placed. If you want to propose to your beloved, try to choose a romantic setting. To set means to put in place, so a setting is a placement. If you are a jeweler, you will spend a lot of time making silver and gold settings for precious stones. Setting can also mean context. If you tell me that you spent the whole weekend cooing and clucking, before I decide that you’re crazy, you might explain to me that the setting of that clucking was the birth of all the little chicks on your friend’s farm.
Vocabulary lists containing setting
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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:
The city is in in talks with five large Chinese companies about setting up operations in the city, according to people close to the negotiations, with interest intensifying since the first round of U.S. tariffs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Public school pre-K programs were the only setting in which teachers were required to have a college degree.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
The short document has been released ahead of the first minister setting out his legislative plans for the year on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Southern California’s swampy summer is setting new records, with humidity levels creating conditions that feel more like Florida than the West Coast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
The casapasaran pointed them ahead to a space in the wood where the trees seemed to thin, and they could see the setting sun in the sky.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Professor Stefan Iglauer, from ECU's School of Engineering, said the results bring researchers closer to understanding how hydrogen production might work in real underground rock formations rather than only in controlled laboratory settings.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
South Korea’s central bank tightened policy settings again on Thursday, raising rates for a second straight meeting as it projected stronger growth this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The settings can only be changed with a parent’s permission.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Parents supervising a teen account would get daily notifications of time spent, prompts to review settings and the power to adjust school hours.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
I selected both vidfeed cameras and accessed their configuration settings.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
