Set \Set\, n.
1. The act of setting, as of the sun or other heavenly body;
descent; hence, the close; termination. ``Locking at the
set of day.'' --Tennyson.
The weary sun hath made a golden set. --Shak.
2. That which is set, placed, or fixed. Specifically:
(a) A young plant for growth; as, a set of white thorn.
(b) That which is staked; a wager; a venture; a stake;
hence, a game at venture. [Obs. or R.]
We will in France, by God's grace, play a set
Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.
--Shak.
That was but civil war, an equal set. --Dryden.
(c) (Mech.) Permanent change of figure in consequence of
excessive strain, as from compression, tension,
bending, twisting, etc.; as, the set of a spring.
(d) A kind of punch used for bending, indenting, or giving
shape to, metal; as, a saw set.
(e) (Pile Driving) A piece placed temporarily upon the
head of a pile when the latter cannot be reached by
the weight, or hammer, except by means of such an
intervening piece. [Often incorrectly written sett.]
(f) (Carp.) A short steel spike used for driving the head
of a nail below the surface.
3. [Perhaps due to confusion with sect, sept.]
A number of
things of the same kind, ordinarily used or classed
together; a collection of articles which naturally
complement each other, and usually go together; an
assortment; a suit; as, a set of chairs, of china, of
surgical or mathematical instruments, of books, etc. [In
this sense, sometimes incorrectly written sett.]
4. A number of persons associated by custom, office, common
opinion, quality, or the like; a division; a group; a
clique. ``Others of our set.'' --Tennyson.
This falls into different divisions, or sets, of
nations connected under particular religions. --R.
P. Ward.
5. Direction or course; as, the set of the wind, or of a
current.
6. In dancing, the number of persons necessary to execute a
quadrille; also, the series of figures or movements
executed.
7. The deflection of a tooth, or of the teeth, of a saw,
which causes the the saw to cut a kerf, or make an
opening, wider than the blade.
8.
(a) A young oyster when first attached.
(b) Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any
locality.
9. (Tennis) A series of as many games as may be necessary to
enable one side to win six. If at the end of the tenth
game the score is a tie, the set is usually called a deuce
set, and decided by an application of the rules for
playing off deuce in a game. See Deuce.
10. (Type Founding) That dimension of the body of a type
called by printers the width.
Dead set.
(a) The act of a setter dog when it discovers the game,
and remains intently fixed in pointing it out.
(b) A fixed or stationary condition arising from obstacle
or hindrance; a deadlock; as, to be at a dead set.
(c) A concerted scheme to defraud by gaming; a determined
onset.
To make a dead set, to make a determined onset, literally
or figuratively.
Syn: Collection; series; group. See Pair.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|