[set one's cap for] <v. phr.>, <informal> To attempt to win the love of or to marry. * /Usually used of a girl or woman./ * /The young girl set her cap for the new town doctor, who was a bachelor./
[set one's face against] <v. phr.>, <literary> To be very much against; strongly disapprove. * /The banker's daughter wanted to marry a poor boy, but her father set his face against it./
[set one's hand to] See: PUT ONE'S HAND TO.
[set one's hand to the plow] See: PUT ONE'S HAND TO THE PLOW.
[set one's heart on] <v. phr.> To want very much. * /He set his heart on that bike./ also: To be very desirous of; hope very much to succeed in. - Used with a verbal noun. * /He set his heart on winning the race./
[set one's house in order] See: PUT ONE'S HOUSE IN ORDER.
[set one's mind at rest] <v. phr.> To relieve someone's anxieties; reassure someone. * /"Lef me set your mind at rest about the operation," Dr. Vanek said. "You'll be back on your feet in a week."/
[set one's mind on] <v. phr.> To be determined to; decide to. * /He has set his mind on buying an old chateau in France./
[set one's sights] <v. phr.> 1. To want to reach; aim for. * /John has set his sights higher than the job he has now./ 2. To wish to get or win. * /Owen set his sights on the championship./
[set one's teeth on edge] <v. phr.> 1. To have a sharp sour taste that makes you rub your teeth together. * /The lemon juice set my teeth on edge./ 2. To make one feel nervous or annoyed. * /She looks so mean that her face sets my teeth on edge./
[set on foot] See: ON FOOT.
[set out] <v.> 1. To leave on a journey or voyage. * /The Pilgrims set out for the New World./ Compare: SET FORTH(2), SET OFF(4), START OUT. 2. To decide and begin to try; attempt. * /George set out to improve his pitching./ 3. To plant in the ground. * /The gardener set out some tomato seedlings./
[set right] <v. phr.> To discipline; correct; indicate the correct procedure. * /"Your bookkeeping is all messed up," the accountant said. "Let me set it right for you, once and for all."/
[set sail] <v. phr.> To begin a sea voyage; start sailing. * /The ship set sail for Europe./
[set store by] <v. phr.>, <informal> To like or value; want to keep. Used with a qualifying word between "set" and "store". * /George sets great store by that old tennis racket./ * /Pat doesn't set much store by Mike's advice./
[set the ball rolling] See: GET THE BALL ROLLING.
[set the pace] <v. phr.> To decide on a rate of speed of travel or rules that are followed by others. * /The scoutmaster set the pace so that the shorter boys would not get tired trying to keep up./ * /Louise set the pace in selling tickets for the school play./ [pace-setter] <n.> * /John is the pace-setter of the class./ [pace-setting] <adj.> * /Bob's time in the cross-country race was pace-setting./ * /The country is growing at a pace-setting rate./
[set the stage for] <v. phr.> To prepare the way or situation for (an event); to make a situation ready for something to happen. * /The country's economic problems set the stage for a depression./
[set the world on fire] <v. phr.>, <informal> To do something outstanding; act in a way that attracts much attention or makes you famous. * /John works hard, but he will never set the world on fire./ * /Mary could set the world on fire with her piano playing./
[setting-up] <adj.> Done early in the morning to make you fresh and feel strong for the day. * /Tom jumped out of bed and did his setting-up exercises./ Compare: DAILY DOZEN.
[settle a score] also [wipe out an old score] To hurt (someone) in return for a wrong or loss. * /John settled an old score with Bob by beating him./ Compare: GET BACK AT, GET EVEN.
[settle down] <v.> 1. To live more quietly and sensibly; have a regular place to live and a regular job; stop acting wildly or carelessly, especially by growing up. * /John will settle down after he gets a job and gets married./ 2. To become quiet, calm, or comfortable. * /Father settled down with the newspaper./ * /The house settled down for the night after the children were put to bed./ * /The teacher told the students to settle down and study the lesson./
[settle for] <v.> To be satisfied with (less) agree to; accept. * /Jim wanted $200 for his old car, but he settled for $100./
[settle on] <v. phr.> To decide which one to choose among various alternatives. * /My parents have been debating what kind of a car to get and have finally settled on a BMW from Germany./
[settle up] <v. phr.> To pay up; conclude monetary or other transactions. * /"Let's settle up," Carol's attorney said, when she sued Don for a hefty sum of money after their divorce./
[set to] <v.> 1. To make a serious beginning. * /Charlie took a helping of turkey, grabbed his knife and fork, and set to./ 2. To start to fight. * /One man called the other a liar and they set to./
[set to music] <v. phr.> To compose a musical accompaniment to verse. * /Schubert and Beethoven both set to music many a famous poem by Goethe and Schiller./
[set to rights] See: PUT TO RIGHTS.
[set tongues wagging] See: TONGUES WAG.
[setup] <v.> 1. To provide the money for the necessities for. * /When he was twenty-one, his father set him up in the clothing business./ 2. To establish; start. * /The government has set up many hospitals for veterans of the armed forces./ 3. To make ready for use by putting the parts together or into their right place. * /The men set up the new printing press./ 4. To bring into being; cause. * /Ocean tides are set up by the pull between earth and the moon./ 5. To claim; pretend. * /He set himself up to be a graduate of a medical school, but he was not./ 6. To harm someone by entrapment or some other ruse. * /Joe was actually innocent of the robbery, but his "trusted friends" set him up, so the police found the gun in his car./
[setup] <n. phr.> (stress on "set") 1. Arrangement, management, circumstances. * /Boy, you really have a wonderful setup in your office!/ * /I just can't do my work in such a messy setup!/ 2. Financial arrangement. * /It is a fairly generous setup sending your uncle $1,000 a month./
[set upon] See: SET ON.
[seven] See: AT SIXES AND SEVENS.
[seventh heaven] <n. phr.>, <literary> The pinnacle of happiness. * /We were in seventh heaven when the helicopter flew us over the magnificent Grand Canyon./
[sewed up] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Won or arranged as you wish; decided. * /They thought they had the game sewed up, but the other team won it with a touchdown in the last quarter./ * /Dick thought he had the job sewed up, but another boy got it./ Compare: IN THE BAG.
[sexual harassment] <n. phr.> The act of constantly making unwanted advances of a sexual nature for which the offended party may seek legal redress. * /The court fined Wilbur Catwallender $750,000 for sexual harassment of two of his female employees./
[shack up with] <v. phr.>, <slang> To move in with (someone) of the opposite sex without marrying the person. * /Did you know that Ollie and Sue aren't married? They just decided to shack up for a while./ See: LIGHT HOUSEKEEPING.
[shadow] See: AFRAID OF ONE'S SHADOW, EYE SHADOW.
[shaggy dog (story)] <n. phr.> A special kind of joke whose long and often convoluted introduction and development delay the effect of the punch line. * /Uncle Joe only seems to bore his audiences with his long shaggy dog jokes, for when he comes to the long-awaited punch line, he gets very few laughs./
[shake] See: MORE THAN ONE COULD SHAKE A STICK AT.
[shake a leg] <v. phr.>, <slang> To go fast; hurry. * /Shake a leg! The bus won't wait./ Compare: STEP ON IT.
[shakedown] <n.> 1. A test. * /Let's take the new car out and give it a shakedown./ 2. An act of extorting money by threatening. * /It was a nasty shakedown, to get $500 from the old man, promising to protect him./
[shake down] <v. phr.> 1. To cause to fall by shaking. * /He shook some pears down from the free./ 2. <informal> To test, practice, get running smoothly (a ship or ship's crew). * /The captain shook down his new ship on a voyage to the Mediterranean Sea./ 3. <slang> To get money from by threats. * /The gangsters shook the store owner down every month./
[shake in one's shoes] or [shake in one's boots] <v. phr.>, <informal> To be very much afraid. * /The robber shook in his boots when the police knocked on his door./
[shake off] <v.>, <informal> To get away from when followed; get rid of; escape from. * /A convict escaped from prison and shook off the officers trying to follow him./ * /Tom could not shake off his cold./
[shake the dust from one's feet] <v. phr.> To depart or leave with some measure of disgust or displeasure. * /Jim was so unhappy in our small, provincial town that he was glad to shake the dust from his feet and move to New York./
[shake up] <v.>, <informal> To bother; worry; disturb. * /The notice about a cut in pay shook up everybody in the office./
[shake-up] <n.> A change; a reorganization. * /After the scandal there was a major shake-up in the Cabinet./
[shame] See: FOR SHAME, PUT TO SHAME.