set out
Britishverb
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to present, arrange, or display
he set the flowers out in the vase
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to give a full account of; explain exactly
he set out the matter in full
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to plan or lay out (a garden, etc)
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(intr) to begin or embark on an undertaking, esp a journey
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Begin an earnest attempt, as in He set out to prove his point , or We accomplished what we set out to do . [Late 1800s]
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Lay out systematically, as in She set out all the reports in chronological order . [Second half of 1500s]
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Display for exhibition or sale, as in The Japanese restaurant set out samples of all the different kinds of sushi . [c. 1300]
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Plant, as in It was time to set out the seedlings . [Early 1800s]
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Begin a journey, as in They set out at dawn . [Late 1500s]
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.
He called on the US and Israel to set out how the action met international rules and urged any Scots trapped in the area to seek consular support.
From BBC
Nearly 50 cities nationwide have opted to deactivate their scanners or cancel contracts with Flock, mostly in recent months, according to the website DeFlock.me, which has set out to map locations of the company’s cameras.
From Los Angeles Times
The master plan doesn’t set out to pay for itself—the project would require a major public subsidy.
Calling Greeley, “the self appointed Attorney General for the hobgoblin society,” the Burr brothers set out to expose spirit communication as a fraud and tell the public the truth about the Fox sisters.
From Literature
Mr. Boyes wonders if any current descendants of Henry—any similarly gargantuan beasts—are still roaming the planet, then sets out to find them, if they exist.
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.
