Definition of Set off

1. Verb. Put in motion or move to act. "Actuate the circuits"


2. Verb. Leave. "These cars won't set off "; "The family took off for Florida"

3. Verb. Direct attention to, as if by means of contrast. "I set off these words by brackets"
Exact synonyms: Bring Out
Specialized synonyms: Pick Up, Foreground, Highlight, Play Up, Spotlight, Raise
Generic synonyms: Accent, Accentuate, Emphasise, Emphasize, Punctuate, Stress

4. Verb. Cause to burst with a violent release of energy. "We exploded the nuclear bomb"
Exact synonyms: Blow Up, Detonate, Explode
Generic synonyms: Change Integrity
Causes: Blow Up, Detonate, Explode
Specialized synonyms: Fulminate, Dynamite
Derivative terms: Blowup, Detonation, Detonative, Detonator, Explosion, Explosion

5. Verb. Make up for. "His skills offset his opponent's superior strength"
Exact synonyms: Cancel, Offset
Specialized synonyms: Counteract, Counterbalance, Countervail, Neutralize
Generic synonyms: Balance, Equilibrate, Equilibrise, Equilibrize
Derivative terms: Offset

6. Verb. Set in motion or cause to begin. "The guide set the tour off to a good start"
Generic synonyms: Begin, Commence, Lead Off, Start

7. Verb. Provoke or stir up. "Set off great unrest among the people"
Exact synonyms: Incite, Instigate, Stir Up
Generic synonyms: Provoke, Stimulate
Specialized synonyms: Raise
Causes: Act, Move
Derivative terms: Incitation, Incitation, Incitement, Inciter, Incitive, Instigant, Instigation, Instigative, Instigator

Definition of Set off

1. Verb. (idiomatic intransitive) To leave; to begin a journey or trip. ¹

2. Verb. (idiomatic transitive) To begin; to cause; to initiate. ¹

3. Verb. (idiomatic transitive) To cause to explode. ¹

4. Verb. (idiomatic transitive) To make angry. ¹

5. Verb. (idiomatic transitive) To offset, to compensate for: to reduce the effect of, by having a contrary effect. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Set Off

set decoration
set down
set fire
set foot
set for life
set forth
set free
set gun
set in
set in motion
set in one's ways
set in stone
set list
set of bookshelves
set of pipes
set off
set on
set on fire
set one's cap at
set one's shoulder to the wheel
set one's teeth on edge
set operation
set out
set phrase
set phrases
set piece
set pieces
set point
set points
set pulses racing

Literary usage of Set off

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery: During by Great Britain Court of Chancery, Edward Thurlow Thurlow, Alexander Wedderburn Rosslyn, Jonathan Cogswell Perkins (1845)
"Distinction between set-off in Equity and at Law. In Equity it prevailed long upon-a loss after it, passes; and gives a right of Action to the assignees, ..."

2. Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books by William Blackstone, Thomas McIntyre Cooley (1884)
"A set-off is allowed only when the iuit is based on a demand which could itself be used ... If the claim is one arising from a tort there can be no set-off. ..."

3. Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books by William Blackstone, George Sharswood, Barron Field (1867)
"And where demands ori- into a rule not to sue for the debt intended to be set off; or he nay take a verdict for the smaller »urn, wilh a special indorsement ..."

4. Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books by William Blackstone, George Sharswood, Barron Field (1875)
"Though the defendant does not avail himself of the set-off, intending to bring a ... A set-off is not allowed in an action for uncertain damages, ..."

5. A Treatise of the Law of Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Bank-notes and by Sir John Barnard Byles, George Sharswood (1883)
"Equity would not relieve a party who neglected to plead a set-off at law.(w) But if the set-off were a mere equitable demand, not available at law, ..."

6. The Novels of Jane Austen by Jane Austen (1892)
"could allow themselves only to walk with the two young ladies to Hartfield gates before they set off for Randalls. Chapter IT may be possible to do without ..."

7. The Novels of Jane Austen by Jane Austen, Reginald Brimley Johnson (1892)
"could allow themselves only to walk with the two young ladies to Hartfield gates before they set off for Randalls. Chapter IT may be possible to do without ..."

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