set back
See also: setback
English edit
Pronunciation edit
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Verb edit
set back (third-person singular simple present sets back, present participle setting back, simple past and past participle set back)
- (transitive) To delay or obstruct.
- Coordinate term: hold back
- I expect it will set us back by a day or so, but I think a side trip will be worthwhile.
- Having the mindset that you "can't" reach your goals is only going to set you back.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 51:
- “Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
- (transitive) To remove from or allow distance.
- Set it back from the road by twenty or thirty feet.
- (transitive) To install or position behind a boundary or surface, or in a recess.
- Coordinate term: inset
- The statue was set back in a niche.
- (transitive, idiomatic) To cost money.
- How much do you suppose that fancy dress set her back?
- To reverse, go backwards.
- 1939 December, John D. Hewitt, “Some Notable British Main Lines: II. Salisbury and Exeter, S.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 412:
- Before the platforms were extended up to the actual junction, branch trains had to set back into a bay.
Derived terms edit
- setback (noun)
Translations edit
delay
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remove from
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recess
cost