- present participle of set.
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, 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:
After setting the tone defensively against the Kings, forwards Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle watched from the sideline Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Their movement disturbed the orbits of smaller objects, setting off catastrophic collisions and producing brief periods filled with large amounts of dust, similar to what astronomers now observe in extreme debris disks.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Back then, stocks were setting up for a historic comeback after nearly skidding into bear-market territory following the White House’s initial “liberation day” tariff rollout.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
EA didn’t pay the change-in-control premium after its buyout closed in August, instead attempting to defease the bonds by setting aside U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
It was a way of setting up a system of communication.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
“How much of it can be legislated away? What it means in different settings? How to pull apart what are usually very gray-area cases?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Before taking part in the study, patient navigator Viridiana Carmona-Barrera had worked in hospital, insurance and women's health settings.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
Those cases point to complexities in the Muse settings that confound experts, let alone laypersons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
It will also let them decide on privacy settings for their account.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
He snapped the back of the camera shut and chose the appropriate shutter and aperture settings, which controlled the amount of light the film would be exposed to.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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.
