set to

verb

To begin something with determination; to commence a long and difficult task or project.

“I set to with the rude man.”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

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

present singular third person sets to · participle present setting to

  1. ambitransitiveTo begin something with determination; to commence a long and difficult task or project.

    Having laid out the picnic, the hungry boys set to with gusto.

    2 more examples

    VVhen thou ſetſt to the vvork, look up tovvard Heaven, let thine eie lead thee as neer as it can; remember that there is thine Everlaſting Reſt; […]

    1649, Richard Baxter, “The Abstract or Sum of All, for the Use of the Weak”, in The Saints Everlasting Rest: Or, A Treatise of the Blessed State of the Saints in Their Enjoyment of God in Glory. […], London: […] Rob[ert] White, for Thomas Underhil and Francis Tyton, […], →OCLC, part IV (Containing a Directory for the Getting and Keeping of the Heart in Heaven: […]), section 1, page 788

    Hungrily, by firelight, we set to with damper and cold goat washed down by hot tea.

    1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 239
  2. archaicintransitiveTo fight.

    I set to with the rude man.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
ding-dongdustupfighthave atpunch-upset about

Translations

Polish brać się do, wziąć się do
  • brać się doto commence a long and difficult task or project
  • wziąć się doto commence a long and difficult task or project
  • zabierać się zato commence a long and difficult task or project
  • zabrać się zato commence a long and difficult task or project
Cite this entry
APA

set to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20to

MLA

“set to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20to. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “set to,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20to.

Source: set to on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.