set forth

English

Verb

set forth (third-person singular simple present sets forth, present participle setting forth, simple past and past participle set forth)

1. (transitive) To state; describe; give an account of.

   Where any judge falls under any of the challengeable grounds set forth in section 13, the judge may state the grounds to the Court and remove himself from the case concerned.

   • 1906, James George Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, volume 2, page 240:

     At Delphi every eighth year a sacred drama or miracle-play was acted which drew crowds of spectators from all parts of Greece. It set forth the slaying of the Dragon by Apollo.

   • State definition

     (1 of 24 state definitions)

   • Describe definition

     To represent in words. (1 of 5 describe definitions)

   • Account definition

     A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review. (1 of 10 account definitions)
2. (transitive) To present for consideration; to propose.

   • Present definition

     Relating to now, for the time being; current. (1 of 9 present definitions)

   • Consideration definition

     The thought process of considering, of taking multiple or specified factors into account (with of being the main corresponding adposition). (1 of 6 consideration definitions)

   • Propose definition

     To suggest a plan, course of action, etc. (1 of 5 propose definitions)
3. (intransitive) To begin a journey or expedition.

   Columbus set forth with three small ships.

   • 1885, Edward P. Vining, quoting J. Klaproth, “Researches regarding the Country of Fu-sang, mentioned in Chinese Books, and erroneously supposed to be a Part of America”, in An Inglorious Columbus: or, Evidence that Hwui Shǎn and a Party of Buddhist Monks from Afghanistan Discovered America in the Fifth Century, A.D.‎^[1], D. Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 43:

     Next, the Chinese text says that they set forth from the district of Lo-lang, which is situated not in Leao-tung, but in Corea, and of which the capital is the present city of Pʽing-jang (in d’Auville’s map, Ping-yang), situated upon the northern bank of the Ta-tʽung-kiang, or Pʽai-shue, a river of the province of Pʽing-ngan, which, in great part, in the time of the dynasty of Han, formed the district of Lo-lang.

   • Begin definition

     To start, to initiate or take the first step into something. (1 of 3 begin definitions)

   • Journey definition

     A set amount of travelling, seen as a single unit; a discrete trip, a voyage. (1 of 7 journey definitions)

   • Expedition definition

     The act of expediting something; prompt execution. (1 of 7 expedition definitions)
4. (intransitive) To start.

   • Start definition

     The beginning of an activity. (1 of 7 start definitions)

Quotations

• 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 1:1, column 1:

  Foraſmuch as many haue taken in hande to ſet foorth in order a declaration of thoſe things which are moſt ſurely beleeued among vs […]

• 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “St. Edmund”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk), page 74:

  The Festival of St. Edmund now approaching, the marble blocks are polished, and all things are in readiness for lifting of the Shrine to its new place. A fast of three days was held by all the people, the cause and meaning thereof being publicly set forth to them.

Synonyms

• (to begin a journey): set out
• (to present for consideration): propose, put forward

Translations

Anagrams

• forthset