set out

English

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To explain something, or give exact details, usually in writing.

   This contract sets out all the terms of the agreement as we discussed.

   • Explain definition

     To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of. (1 of 5 explain definitions)

   • Details definition

     third-person singular simple present indicative of detail
2. (intransitive) To go out, leave.

   Tomorrow we set out for America.

   • 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter 5, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I, II, or III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:

     I had been calling Nobs in the meantime and was about to set out in search of him, fearing, to tell the truth, to do so lest I find him mangled and dead among the trees of the acacia grove, when he suddenly emerged from among the boles, his ears flattened, his tail between his legs and his body screwed into a suppliant S. He was unharmed except for minor bruises; but he was the most chastened dog I have ever seen.

   • Go Out definition

     To leave, especially a building. (1 of 16 go out definitions)

   • Leave definition

     To have a consequence or remnant.

     1. To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely. (1 of 15 leave definitions)
3. (intransitive) To start an activity with the intention of finishing it.

   He set out with the aim of writing the book in less than 3 months.

   Many young people set out to change the world.

   • Start definition

     The beginning of an activity. (1 of 7 start definitions)
4. (UK, transitive) To position, to put in a position
   • 26 August 2014, Richard Rae, “Manchester United humbled by MK Dons after Will Grigg hits double”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Following the acquisition of Di María, a winger, there was almost as much interest in the manner in which Van Gaal would set out his team as there was in the personnel. It was probably as well, considering only the goalkeeper David De Gea was retained from the XI who started Sunday’s draw at Sunderland.

   • Position definition

     A place or location. (1 of 13 position definitions)

Usage notes

In the transitive senses, the object may appear before or after the particle. If the object is a pronoun, then it must be before the particle.

Derived terms

• outset
• set out one's stall

Translations

Anagrams

• Stoute, Tetsuo, outset