What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Set vs Back - What's the difference?

set | back | Related terms |

Set is a related term of back.


As a numeral set

is seven.

As a noun back is

a small stream or brook.

set

English

Etymology 1

* From (etyl) . * From (etyl) .

Verb

  • To put (something) down, to rest.
  • To attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place.
  • I have set my heart on running the marathon.
  • * Bible, Genesis iv. 15
  • The Lord set a mark upon Cain.
  • To put in a specified condition or state; to cause to be.
  • * Bible, Deuteronomy xxviii. 1
  • The Lord thy God will set thee on high.
  • * Bible, Matthew x. 35
  • I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother.
  • * Coleridge
  • Every incident sets him thinking.
  • (dated) To cause to stop or stick; to obstruct; to fasten to a spot.
  • to set a coach in the mud
  • To determine or settle.
  • To adjust.
  • To punch (a nail) into wood so that its head is below the surface.
  • To arrange with dishes and cutlery.
  • To introduce or describe.
  • *
  • An incident which happened about this time will set the characters of these two lads more fairly before the discerning reader than is in the power of the longest dissertation.
  • To locate (a play, etc.); to assign a backdrop to.
  • To compile, to make (a puzzle or challenge).
  • This crossword was set by Araucaria.
  • To prepare (a stage or film set).
  • To fit (someone) up in a situation.
  • To arrange (type).
  • To devise and assign (work) to.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting .}}
  • (volleyball) To direct (the ball) to a teammate for an attack.
  • To solidify.
  • To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle.
  • to set milk for cheese
  • Of a heavenly body, to disappear below the horizon of a planet, etc, as the latter rotates.
  • (bridge) To defeat a contract.
  • To begin to move; to go forth.
  • * c. 1599 , (William Shakespeare),
  • The king is set from London, and the scene is now transported, gentles, to Southampton
  • (of fruit) To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form.
  • * 1906 , Canada. Dept. of Agriculture. Fruit Branch, Fruit crop report
  • In the Annapolis Valley, in spite of an irregular bloom, the fruit has set well and has, as yet, been little affected by scab.
  • (intransitive, Southern US, Midwestern US, dialects) To sit (be in a seated position).
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.}}
  • To hunt game with the aid of a setter.
  • (hunting, ambitransitive) Of a dog, to indicate the position of game.
  • The dog sets the bird.
    Your dog sets well.
  • (obsolete) To apply oneself; to undertake earnestly; to set out.
  • * Hammond
  • 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.
  • (ambitransitive) To fit music to words.
  • * Dryden
  • Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute.
    (Shakespeare)
  • (ambitransitive) To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant.
  • to set pear trees in an orchard
  • * Old proverb
  • Sow dry, and set wet.
  • To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • To have a certain direction of motion; to flow; to move on; to tend.
  • The current sets''' to the north; the tide '''sets to the windward.
  • To place or fix in a setting.
  • to set a precious stone in a border of metal
    to set glass in a sash
  • * Dryden
  • And him too rich a jewel to be set / In vulgar metal for a vulgar use.
  • To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare.
  • to set (that is, to hone) a razor
    to set a saw
  • To extend and bring into position; to spread.
  • to set the sails of a ship
  • To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote.
  • to set a psalm
    (Fielding)
  • To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state.
  • to set a broken bone
  • (masonry) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure.
  • (obsolete) To wager in gambling; to risk.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I have set my life upon a cast, / And I will stand the hazard of the die.
  • To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there.
  • * Dryden
  • High on their heads, with jewels richly set , / Each lady wore a radiant coronet.
  • * Wordsworth
  • pastoral dales thin set with modern farms
  • (obsolete) To value; to rate; used with at .
  • * Shakespeare
  • Be you contented, wearing now the garland, / To have a son set your decrees at naught.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I do not set my life at a pin's fee.
  • To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign.
  • to set''' a good example; to '''set lessons to be learned
  • (Scotland) To suit; to become.
  • It sets him ill.
    Derived terms
    * reset * set about * set against * set ahead * set apart * set-aside * set a spell * set back * set by * set down * set foot * set forth * set forward * set in * set in motion * set in stone * set off * set on * set on a pedestal * set on fire * set one’s heart on * set out * set straight * set the cat among the pigeons * set the scene * set the table * set to * set up

    Noun

    (wikipedia set) (en noun)
  • A punch for setting nails in wood.
  • nail set
  • A device for receiving broadcast radio waves; a radio or television.
  • television set
  • A sett; a hole made and lived in by a badger.
  • (horticulture) A small tuber or bulb used instead of seed, particularly onion sets and potato sets.
  • The amount the teeth of a saw protrude to the side in order to create the kerf.
  • (obsolete, rare) That which is staked; a wager; hence, a gambling game.
  • * Shakespeare
  • We will in France, by God's grace, play a set / Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.
  • * Dryden
  • That was but civil war, an equal set .
  • (engineering) Permanent change of shape caused by excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.
  • the set of a spring
  • (piledriving) A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot otherwise be reached by the weight, or hammer.
  • (printing, dated) The width of the body of a type.
  • A young oyster when first attached.
  • Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality.
  • A series of, a group of.
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Fixed in position.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
  • Rigid, solidified.
  • Ready, prepared.
  • Intent, determined (to do something).
  • Prearranged.
  • Fixed in one’s opinion.
  • (of hair) Fixed in a certain style.
  • Synonyms
    * determined, intent * (prearranged) dictated, prearranged, predetermined, prescribed, specified * (sense, fixed in one's opinion) fixed, rigid

    Derived terms

    * heavyset, heavy-set * nail set * mindset * moonset * offset * outset * photoset * preset * quickset * set-aside * saw set * set back * setback * set chisel * set for life * sethood * set-in * setlist * setter * set-to * sunset * television set * thickset * trendsetter * typeset * unset * upset

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) set, sete, . See (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A young plant fit for setting out; a slip; shoot.
  • A rudimentary fruit.
  • The setting of the sun or other luminary; (by extension) the close of the day.
  • * Tennyson
  • the set of day
  • * Shakespeare
  • The weary sun hath made a golden set .
  • (literally, and, figuratively) General movement; direction; drift; tendency.
  • Here and there, amongst individuals alive to the particular evils of the age, and watching the very set of the current, there may have been even a more systematic counteraction applied to the mischief. — Thomas De Quincey.
  • A matching collection of similar things.
  • a set of tables
  • A collection of various objects for a particular purpose.
  • a set of tools
  • An object made up of several parts.
  • a set of steps
  • (set theory) A collection of zero or more objects, possibly infinite in size, and disregarding any order or repetition of the objects which may be contained within it.
  • Set theory.
  • A group of people, usually meeting socially.
  • the country set
  • The scenery for a film or play.
  • (dance) The initial or basic formation of dancers.
  • (exercise) A group of repetitions of a single exercise performed one after the other without rest.
  • * 1974 , Charles Gaines & George Butler, Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding , page 22.
  • This is the fourth set of benchpresses.
  • (tennis) A complete series of games, forming part of a match.
  • (volleyball) A complete series of points, forming part of a match.
  • (volleyball) The act of directing the ball to a teammate for an attack.
  • (music) A musical performance by a band, disc jockey, etc., consisting of several musical pieces.
  • (music) A drum kit, a drum set.
  • He plays the set on Saturdays.
  • (UK, education) A class group in a subject where pupils are divided by ability.
  • * '>citation
  • (poker, slang) Three of a kind]] in poker. In [[w:community card poker, community card games, the term is usually reserved for a situation in which a pair in a player's hand is matched by a single card on the board. Compare with trips''. Weisenberg, Michael (2000) '' The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523
  • Synonyms
    * (close of the day) dusk, eve, evening, sundown, sunset * (general movement) direction, drift, heading, motion, movement, path, tendency, trend * (matching collection of similar things) suite * set theory * club, coterie * (scenery) scenery * (performance of several musical pieces) gig, session * (drum kit) drums, drum kit, drum set * (three of a kind) three of a kind
    Hypernyms
    * (set theory) multiset, bag
    Derived terms
    * box set * bump set * closed set * country set * crystal set * drop set * empty set * filmset * * jet set * Mandelbrot set * open set * set of pipes * set piece * set point * set theory * subset * twinset * instruction set

    Verb

  • To divide a class group in a subject according to ability
  • * 2008 , Patricia Murphy, ?Robert McCormick, Knowledge and Practice: Representations and Identities
  • *:In setted' classes, students are brought together because they are believed to be of similar 'ability'. Yet, '''setted lessons are often conducted as though students are not only similar, but ''identical —in terms of ability, preferred learning style and pace of working.
  • * 2002 , Jo Boaler, Experiencing School Mathematics: Traditional and Reform Approaches and Their Impact on Student Learning
  • *:At Amber Hill, setting was a high-profile concept, and the students were frequently reminded of the set to which they belonged.
  • References

    Statistics

    *

    back

    English

    (wikipedia back)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) bak, from (etyl) 'bending'. The adverb represents an aphetic form of (aback).

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (not comparable) Near the rear.
  • * , chapter=19
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.}}
  • (not comparable) Not current.
  • (not comparable) Far from the main area.
  • In arrear; overdue.
  • back rent
  • Moving or operating backward.
  • back action
  • (comparable, phonetics) Produced in the back of the mouth.
  • Synonyms
    * (near the rear) rear * (not current) former, previous * (far from the main area) remote
    Antonyms
    * (near the rear) front * (not current) current * (far from the main area) main

    Adverb

    (further)
  • (not comparable) To or in a previous condition or place.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.}}
  • Away from the front or from an edge.
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path […]. It twisted and turned,
  • In a manner that impedes.
  • In a reciprocal manner.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly.
  • :
  • *
  • *:It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
  • #The spine and associated tissues.
  • #:
  • # Large and attractive buttocks.
  • #*{{quote-book, 2002, (George Pelecanos), title= Right as Rain: A Novel, isbn=0446610798, page=123
  • , passage= He got his hand on her behind and caressed her firm, ample flesh.
  • #(lb) The part of a piece of clothing which covers the back.
  • #:
  • #The backrest, the part of a piece of furniture which receives the human back.
  • #:
  • #(lb) That part of the body that bears clothing.
  • #*{{quote-book, 1604, (William Shakespeare),
  • , passage=Do thou but think / What 'tis to cram a maw or clothe a back / From such a filthy vice}}
  • That which is farthest away from the front.
  • :
  • #The side of any object which is opposite the front or useful side.
  • #:
  • ##The edge of a book which is bound.
  • ##:
  • ##(lb) The inside margin of a page.
  • ##*, page=472, edition=1965 Ayer Publishing ed., title= A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, isbn=0833731289
  • , passage=Convenience and custom have familiarised us to the printed page being a little higher than the middle of the leaf, and to its having a little more margin at the fore edge than in the back .}}
  • ##The side of a blade opposite the side used for cutting.
  • ##:
  • #The reverse side; the side that is not normally seen.
  • #:
  • #Area behind, such as the backyard of a house.
  • #:
  • #The part of something that goes last.
  • #:
  • #(lb) In some team sports, a position behind most players on the team.
  • #:
  • #*{{quote-news, year=2010, date=December 28, author=Kevin Darlin, work=BBC
  • , title= West Brom 1-3 Blackburn , passage=
  • (lb) Upper part of a natural object which is considered to resemble an animal's back.
  • :
  • A support or resource in reserve.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:This project / Should have a back or second, that might hold, / If this should blast in proof.
  • (lb) The keel and keelson of a ship.
  • :
  • (lb) The roof of a horizontal underground passage.
  • *{{quote-book, 1911, Robert Bruce Brinsmade, title= Mining Without Timber, page=161
  • , passage=The stope is kept full of broken ore, sufficient only being drawn to leave a working space between the floor of broken ore and the back of the stope.}}
  • Effort, usually physical.
  • :
  • A non-alcoholic drink (often water or a soft drink), to go with hard liquor or a cocktail.
  • :
  • Among leather dealers, one of the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
  • *1848 , Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Maine Reports (volume 6, page 397)
  • *:.
  • Synonyms
    * (side opposite the visible side) reverse * (rear of the body) rear, backside
    Antonyms
    * (side opposite the front or useful side) front * (that which is farthest away from the front) front
    Coordinate terms
    * (non-alcoholic drink)
    Derived terms
    * (non-alcoholic drink)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To go in the reverse direction.
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’
  • To support.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 9, author=Owen Phillips, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark , passage=And Netherlands, backed by a typically noisy and colourful travelling support, started the second period in blistering fashion and could have had four goals within 10 minutes}}
  • (nautical, of the wind) To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
  • (nautical, of a square sail) To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship.
  • (nautical, of an anchor) To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power.
  • (UK, of a hunting dog) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed.
  • To push or force backwards.
  • to back oxen
  • (obsolete) To get upon the back of; to mount.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • I will back him [a horse] straight.
  • (obsolete) To place or seat upon the back.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Great Jupiter, upon his eagle backed , / Appeared to me.
  • To make a back for; to furnish with a back.
  • to back books
  • To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • a gardenwith a vineyard backed
  • * (Thomas Henry Huxley) (1825-1895)
  • the chalk cliffs which back the beach
  • *
  • *:So this was my future home, I thought!Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
  • To write upon the back of, possibly as an endorsement.
  • to back''' a letter;  to '''back a note or legal document
  • (legal, of a justice of the peace) To sign or endorse (a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender).
  • To row backward with (oars).
  • to back the oars
    Antonyms
    * veer

    Derived terms

    * answer back * backache * back and forth * back away * backbeat, back beat * back-bench, backbench * back-bencher, backbencher * back benches, back-benches, backbenches * backbite * backbiter * backbiting * back-blocks * back boiler * backbone * backbreaker * backbreaking, back-breaking * back burner * backchat * back-cloth * backcomb, back-comb * back cover * back-crawl * backdate, back-date * back door * back down * back-draught * backdrop * back end * backer * backfill * backfire * back-formation * backgammon * back garden * background * backhand * backhanded, back-handed * backhander, back-hander * backing * back into * back issue * back kitchen * backlash * back-light * back-lighting * backlist * backlog * backlot * backmost * backness * back number, back-number * back of beyond * back off * back office * back of house * back of one's hand * back on to * back out * backpack, back-pack * back page * back pass * back passage * backpay, back pay * back payment * back-pedal * back-projection * backrest * back road * backroom * back row * backscatter * backscratcher * backscratching * back scrubber * back-seat driver * backshift * back-shop * backside * back sight * back-slang * backslapping, back-slapping * backslash * backslide * backsliding * backspace * backspin * back-stabbing * backstage * backstair, backstairs * backstay * backstitch * backstop * back straight * back street * back-stroke, backstroke * backswing * back to back, back-to-back * back to basics * back to front * back to nature * backtrack * back up * backup, back-up * back vowel * backward * backwards * backwash * backwater * backwoods * back yard * bad back * barback * bareback * be glad to see the back of * behind someone's back * break the back of * call back * cashback * get back at * get off someone's back * get someone's back up * give back * go behind someone's back * go to hell and back * have back * have one's back to the wall * hogback, Hog's Back * hollow back * horseback * hunchback * in back of * know like the back of one's hand * left back * look like the back end of a bus * offensive back * off the back foot * pat on the back * phone back * put on the back burner * put one's back into * put someone's back up * redback * right back * ring back * rod for one's back * running back * saddle back * set back * setback * shagger's back * stab in the back * stand back * swayback * take a back seat * there and back

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) bac.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A large shallow vat; a cistern, tub, or trough, used by brewers, distillers, dyers, picklers, gluemakers, and others, for mixing or cooling wort, holding water, hot glue, etc.
  • A ferryboat.