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Set about   /sɛt əbˈaʊt/   Listen
verb
Set  v. i.  (past & past part. set; pres. part. setting)  
1.
To pass below the horizon; to go down; to decline; to sink out of sight; to come to an end. "Ere the weary sun set in the west." "Thus this century sets with little mirth, and the next is likely to arise with more mourning."
2.
To fit music to words. (Obs.)
3.
To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant. "To sow dry, and set wet."
4.
To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form; as, cuttings set well; the fruit has set well (i. e., not blasted in the blossom).
5.
To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened. "A gathering and serring of the spirits together to resist, maketh the teeth to set hard one against another."
6.
To congeal; to concrete; to solidify; of cements, glues, gels, concrete, substances polymerizing into plastics, etc. "That fluid substance in a few minutes begins to set."
7.
To have a certain direction in motion; to flow; to move on; to tend; as, the current sets to the north; the tide sets to the windward.
8.
To begin to move; to go out or forth; to start; now followed by out. "The king is set from London."
9.
To indicate the position of game; said of a dog; as, the dog sets well; also, to hunt game by the aid of a setter.
10.
To apply one's self; to undertake earnestly; now followed by out. "If he sets industriously and sincerely to perform the commands of Christ, he can have no ground of doubting but it shall prove successful to him."
11.
To fit or suit one; to sit; as, the coat sets well. Note: (Colloquially used, but improperly, for sit.) Note: The use of the verb set for sit in such expressions as, the hen is setting on thirteen eggs; a setting hen, etc., although colloquially common, and sometimes tolerated in serious writing, is not to be approved.
To set about, to commence; to begin.
To set forward, to move or march; to begin to march; to advance.
To set forth, to begin a journey.
To set in.
(a)
To begin; to enter upon a particular state; as, winter set in early.
(b)
To settle one's self; to become established. "When the weather was set in to be very bad."
(c)
To flow toward the shore; said of the tide.
To set off.
(a)
To enter upon a journey; to start.
(b)
(Typog.) To deface or soil the next sheet; said of the ink on a freshly printed sheet, when another sheet comes in contact with it before it has had time to dry.
To set on or To set upon.
(a)
To begin, as a journey or enterprise; to set about. "He that would seriously set upon the search of truth."
(b)
To assault; to make an attack. "Cassio hath here been set on in the dark."
To set out, to begin a journey or course; as, to set out for London, or from London; to set out in business;to set out in life or the world.
To set to, to apply one's self to.
To set up.
(a)
To begin business or a scheme of life; as, to set up in trade; to set up for one's self.
(b)
To profess openly; to make pretensions. "Those men who set up for mortality without regard to religion, are generally but virtuous in part."


adverb
About  adv.  
1.
On all sides; around. "'Tis time to look about."
2.
In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; as, a mile about, and a third of a mile across.
3.
Here and there; around; in one place and another. "Wandering about from house to house."
4.
Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence, in quality, manner, degree, etc.; as, about as cold; about as high; also of quantity, number, time. "There fell... about three thousand men."
5.
To a reserved position; half round; in the opposite direction; on the opposite tack; as, to face about; to turn one's self about.
To bring about, to cause to take place; to accomplish.
To come about, to occur; to take place. See under Come.
To go about, To set about, to undertake; to arrange; to prepare. "Shall we set about some revels?"
Round about, in every direction around.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Set about" Quotes from Famous Books



... and be Barbarous or Polite, according as the Times take their Turn. If from the abundance of good Sense which appears lately in every thing we do, The Doctor can demonstrate, that we never were in a better way towards the Perfection of Thought and Language, let him set about his Academy as soon as he pleases. But if the contrary is apparent, it may not be improper to wait for some more propitious Opportunity. Besides, there will in all times be irregular Genius's, who out of Humour will prefer Affectation to Nature, and mistake Novelty for Beauty. Boileau in his ...
— Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley (1712) and The British Academy (1712) • John Oldmixon
... gradually buying enough cotton cloth to twist up and make a rope of; but you see, when one has been years in captivity, one loses a lot of one's energy. If I had been worse off, I should have set about the thing in earnest; but you see, I was not badly treated at all. I was always doing odd carpentering jobs for the colonel and officers, and armourer's work at the guns. Any odd time I had over, ...
— The Tiger of Mysore - A Story of the War with Tippoo Saib • G. A. Henty
... Rainham, left alone with his host, set about the business of his new farm in earnest, since there seemed nothing else for him to do; and David Linton, possibly glad of the occupation, threw himself into the work. The farm was bought on terms that seemed to Bob very easy—he did not know that Mr. Linton stood security for his payments—and ...
— Back To Billabong • Mary Grant Bruce
... Ann had returned home Miss Cordelia set about getting her tea and thinking over the plan that had come to her ...
— Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1902 to 1903 • Lucy Maud Montgomery
... of an investigation, which proved that the cavity was unfit as a treasure hoard for a discreet squirrel, whatever its value as a receptacle for the love-tokens of incautious humanity, the little animal at once set about to put things in order. He began by whisking out an immense quantity of dead leaves, disturbed a family of tree-spiders, dissipated a drove of patient aphides browsing in the bark, as well as their attendant dairymen, the ants, and otherwise ruled it ...
— A Millionaire of Rough-and-Ready • Bret Harte


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