Set \Set\ (s[e^]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Set; p. pr. & vb. n.
Setting.]
[OE. setten, AS. setton; akin to OS. settian,
OFries. setta, D. zetten, OHG. sezzen, G. setzen, Icel.
setja, Sw. s["a]tta, Dan. s?tte, Goth. satjan; causative from
the root of E. sit. [root]154. See Sit, and cf. Seize.]
1. To cause to sit; to make to assume a specified position or
attitude; to give site or place to; to place; to put; to
fix; as, to set a house on a stone foundation; to set a
book on a shelf; to set a dish on a table; to set a chest
or trunk on its bottom or on end.
I do set my bow in the cloud. --Gen. ix. 13.
2. Hence, to attach or affix (something) to something else,
or in or upon a certain place.
Set your affection on things above. --Col. iii. 2.
The Lord set a mark upon Cain. --Gen. iv. 15.
3. To make to assume specified place, condition, or
occupation; to put in a certain condition or state
(described by the accompanying words); to cause to be.
The Lord thy God will set thee on high. --Deut.
xxviii. 1.
I am come to set a man at variance against his
father, and the daughter against her mother. --Matt.
x. 35.
Every incident sets him thinking. --Coleridge.
4. To fix firmly; to make fast, permanent, or stable; to
render motionless; to give an unchanging place, form, or
condition to. Specifically:
(a) To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a
spot; hence, to occasion difficulty to; to embarrass;
as, to set a coach in the mud.
They show how hard they are set in this
particular. --Addison.
(b) To fix beforehand; to determine; hence, to make
unyielding or obstinate; to render stiff, unpliant, or
rigid; as, to set one's countenance.
His eyes were set by reason of his age. --1
Kings xiv. 4.
On these three objects his heart was set.
--Macaulay.
Make my heart as a millstone, set my face as a
flint. --Tennyson.
(c) To fix in the ground, as a post or a tree; to plant;
as, to set pear trees in an orchard.
(d) To fix, as a precious stone, in a border of metal; to
place in a setting; hence, to place in or amid
something which serves as a setting; as, to set glass
in a sash.
And him too rich a jewel to be set In vulgar
metal for a vulgar use. --Dryden.
(e) To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into
curd; to curdle; as, to set milk for cheese.
5. To put into a desired position or condition; to adjust; to
regulate; to adapt. Specifically:
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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