setup

American  

[set-uhp] / ˈsɛtˌʌp /

noun

setups plural

1. organization; arrangement.

2. an act or instance of setting up or getting ready.

   The setup of the lights and camera took most of the morning.

3. the carriage of the body; bearing.

4. a camera position, as for a particular shot.

5. everything required for an alcoholic drink except the liquor, as a glass, ice, and soda water, as served to patrons who provide their own liquor.

6. Informal.

   1. an undertaking or contest deliberately made easy.

   2. a match or game arranged with an opponent who can be defeated without risk or effort.

   3. an opponent easy to defeat.

7. Sports.

   1. a shot or play that results in a puck, shuttlecock, ball, or balls being so positioned as to provide a player with an easy opportunity for a winning shot.

      a playmaker who excels in setups.

   2. the position of such a puck, ball, etc..

      a setup close to and to the left of the goalkeeper.

   3. the puck, ball, etc., itself.

      The wing banged the setup into the goal.

8. an arrangement of all the tools, parts, apparatus, etc., necessary for any of various specific jobs or purposes.

9. the equipment or items necessary for a particular activity or period; kit.

   Each student gets a weekly setup of clean blankets, sheets, and towels.

10. a plan or projected course of action.

11. a prearranged situation or circumstance, usually created to fool or trap someone; trick; scheme.

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Usage

See login.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• setups
  plural

Etymology

Origin of setup

First recorded in 1600–10; noun use of verb phrase set up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

setup setups

This setup allowed the team to monitor hundreds of caregiving interactions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

This setup could result in vendors losing money on each resolution if the AI agent’s compute costs exceed the resolution price.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

A free service, for instance, allows members to earn rewards for uploading details about their home-energy setup.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

In the U-M setup, the material absorbs the incoming light through two pathways at the same time.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

“This is quite the setup you’ve got here,” the customer called as he entered the store.

From "A Tangle of Knots" by Lisa Graff

Unlike Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, or Hope and Crosby, who relied on tightly scripted setups, this disparate yet kindred duo captured America’s heart by being viscerally, uproariously and unpredictably wild.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

By the early 1990s, some crews in the U.K. began throwing megaraves more spiritually akin to experiential carnivals than to more lowkey dance-floor-and-DJ setups.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

But this is only a memory — a child’s version of an experience, filmed with all of the bright colors and simple setups of an illustration in a storybook.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

Improving technical setups are now raising the possibility that a broader recovery may be starting to take shape across several beaten-down medical device names.

From Barron's ● May 13, 2026

There were all sorts of cumbersome new factors to be considered and discussed—Secret Service protocols, emergency evacuation setups, strategies for protecting our kids’ privacy now that they had the eyes of a nation upon them.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• composition
• foundation
• set-up
• structure
• system