SET OFF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does set off mean? 

• SET OFF (verb)
  The verb SET OFF has 7 senses:

1. put in motion or move to act

2. leave

3. direct attention to, as if by means of contrast

4. cause to burst with a violent release of energy

5. make up for

6. set in motion or cause to begin

7. provoke or stir up

  Familiarity information: SET OFF used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SET OFF (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put in motion or move to act

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

activate; actuate; set off; spark; spark off; touch off; trigger; trigger off; trip

Context example:

actuate the circuits

Hypernyms (to "set off" is one way to...):

initiate; pioneer (take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of)

Cause:

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Leave

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

depart; part; set forth; set off; set out; start; start out; take off

Context example:

The family took off for Florida

Hypernyms (to "set off" is one way to...):

go away; go forth; leave (go away from a place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "set off"):

lift off; take off (depart from the ground)

roar off (leave)

blaze; blaze out (move rapidly and as if blazing)

sally forth; sally out (set out in a sudden, energetic or violent manner)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children set off to the playground

Sense 3

Meaning:

Direct attention to, as if by means of contrast

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

bring out; set off

Context example:

I set off these words by brackets

Hypernyms (to "set off" is one way to...):

accent; accentuate; emphasise; emphasize; punctuate; stress (to stress, single out as important)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "set off"):

pick up (lift out or reflect from a background)

foreground; highlight; play up; spotlight (move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent)

raise (bring (a surface or a design) into relief and cause to project)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cause to burst with a violent release of energy

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

blow up; detonate; explode; set off

Context example:

We exploded the nuclear bomb

Hypernyms (to "set off" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Cause:

blow up; detonate; explode (burst and release energy as through a violent chemical or physical reaction)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "set off"):

fulminate (cause to explode violently and with loud noise)

dynamite (blow up with dynamite)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make up for

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

cancel; offset; set off

Context example:

His skills offset his opponent's superior strength

Hypernyms (to "set off" is one way to...):

balance; equilibrate; equilibrise; equilibrize (bring into balance or equilibrium)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "set off"):

counteract; counterbalance; countervail; neutralize (oppose and mitigate the effects of by contrary actions)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Set in motion or cause to begin

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The guide set the tour off to a good start

Hypernyms (to "set off" is one way to...):

begin; commence; lead off; start (set in motion, cause to start)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Provoke or stir up

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

incite; instigate; set off; stir up

Context example:

set off great unrest among the people

Hypernyms (to "set off" is one way to...):

provoke; stimulate (provide the needed stimulus for)

Cause:

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "set off"):

raise (activate or stir up)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

 Context examples 

I packed my things, banged the hall door behind me, and set off for Esher, with my bag in my hand.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At nine o’clock Lestrade called for us with the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe Pool.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What! Did she think of being up before you set off?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Her brother, however, had joined us and we set off all four together.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Alleyne watched him until he was small in the distance, and then, wiping the tears from his eyes, he set off briskly once more upon his journey.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I set off without saying a word, just as I told you.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

And we set off at a great pace, sometimes plunging through the bushes to the chest.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I said the next day; and he put on his great-coat and lighted his cigar, and set off to walk home.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Captain Benwick had been seen flying by their house, with a countenance which showed something to be wrong; and they had set off immediately, informed and directed as they passed, towards the spot.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

At four they were to dine, and at six to set off on their return.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)