Word Confusion: Set versus Sit

Plural for the noun: sets
Gerund: setting

Third person present verb: sets
Past tense or past participle: set
Present participle: setting

Variant spelling: sett (4 only)

Plural for the noun: sit
Gerund: sitting

Third person present verb: sits
Past tense or past participle: sat,
[Archaic] sate, sitten
Present participle: sitting

• [Of a view or habit] Unlikely to change
• [Of a person’s expression] Held for an unnaturally long time without changing, typically as a reflection of determination
• [Of a meal or menu in a restaurant] Offered at a fixed price with a limited choice of dishes
• Having a conventional or predetermined wording
• Formulaic

[Predic.] Ready, prepared, or likely to do something

• [set against] Firmly opposed to
• [set on] Determined to do (something)

Exclamation:
Calling the start of a race ²

Noun:
A group or collection of things that belong together or resemble one another or are usually found together ³

• A collection of implements, containers, or other objects customarily used together for a specific purpose
• A group of people with common interests or occupations or of similar social status
• [In tennis, darts, and other games] A group of games counting as a unit toward a match, only the player or side that wins a defined number or proportion of the games being awarded a point toward the final score
• [In jazz or popular music] A sequence of songs or pieces performed together and constituting or forming part of a live show or recording
• [Dance] A group of people making up the required number for a square dance, quadrille, or similar country dance
• A fixed number of repetitions of a particular bodybuilding exercise
• [Mathematics & Logic] A collection of distinct entities regarded as a unit, being either individually specified or (more usually) satisfying specified conditions

[Psychology] A temporary state of an organism characterized by a readiness to respond to certain stimuli in a specific way

[Mining] A timber frame bracing or supporting the walls or roof of a shaft or stope

[In singular] The way in which something is set, disposed, or positioned

• The posture or attitude of a part of the body, typically in relation to the impression this gives of a person’s feelings or intentions
• [Nautical] The flow of a current or tide in a particular direction
• [Nautical] The form or arrangement of the sails, spars, etc., of a vessel
• [Also dead set] A setter’s pointing in the presence of game
• [Machinery] The alternating outward inclinations of the teeth of a saw
• A warp or bend in wood, metal, or another material caused by continued strain or pressure

A series of volumes by one author, about one subject, etc.

The assumption of a fixed, rigid, or hard state, as by mortar or glue

[Machinery] A plate for holding a tool or die

[Philately] A group of stamps that form a complete series

[Machinery] A chisel having a wide blade for dividing bricks

An apparatus for receiving radio or television programs

• Receiver

A collection of scenery, stage furniture, and other articles used for a particular scene in a play or film

• The place or area in which filming is taking place or a play is performed

An arrangement of the hair when damp so that it dries in the required style

[Horticulture] A cutting, young plant, or bulb used in the propagation of new plants

• A young fruit that has just formed

The last coat of plaster on a wall

[Printing] The amount of spacing in type controlling the distance between letters

• The width of a piece of type

[Tailoring] The fit, as of an article of clothing

The lair or burrow of a badger ⁴

The particular pattern of stripes in a tartan

Proper Noun:
[Egyptian mythology] An evil god who murdered his brother Osiris and wounded Osiris’s son Horus ⁵

• An alternative spelling is Seth

Verb, intransitive:
[Of a dancer] Acknowledge another dancer, typically one’s partner, using the steps prescribed ⁶

Harden into a solid or semisolid state

[Of the sun, moon, or another celestial body] Appear to move toward and below the earth’s horizon as the earth rotates

[With adverbial of direction; of a tide or current] Take or have a specified direction or course

• [Of fruit] Develop from blossom

Verb, transitive:
[Usually with adverbial] Put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position ⁶

• [Be set] Be situated or fixed in a specified place or position
• Represent a story, play, movie, or scene as happening at a specified time or in a specified place
• Mount a precious stone in (something, typically a piece of jewelry)
• [Printing] Arrange (type) as required
• [Printing] Arrange the type for (a piece of text)
• Prepare (a table) for a meal by placing cutlery, dishes, etc., on it in their proper places
• [set something to] Provide music so that a written work can be produced in a musical form
• Cause a hen to sit on eggs
• Put a seed or plant in the ground to grow
• [Sailing] Put a sail up in position to catch the wind

[Usually with adverbial] Put or bring into a specified state

• Cause someone or something to start doing something
• [With object and infinitive] Instruct someone to do something
• Give someone (a task)
• Devise a test and give it to someone to do
• Establish as (an example) for others to follow, copy, or try to achieve
• Establish (a record)
• Decide on
• Fix (a price, value, or limit) on something

Adjust a clock or watch, typically to show the right time

• Adjust an alarm clock to sound at the required time
• Adjust a device or its controls so that it performs a particular operation
• [Electronics] Cause (a binary device) to enter the state representing the numeral 1

Arrange (the hair) while damp so that it dries in the required style

• Put parts of a broken or dislocated bone or limb into the correct position for healing
• [Of a bone] Be restored to its normal condition by knitting together again after being broken
• [With reference to a person’s face] Assume or cause to assume a fixed or rigid expression
• [Of the eyes] Become fixed in position or in the feeling they are expressing
• [Of a hunting dog] Adopt a rigid attitude indicating the presence of game

[Chiefly North American] Start a fire

[Of blossom or a tree] Develop into or produce fruit

• [Of a plant] Produce seed)

[Dialect] Sit

Noun, singular:
A period of sitting

[Archaic] The way in which an item of clothing fits someone

Verb, intransitive:
Adopt or be in a position in which one’s weight is supported by one’s buttocks rather than one’s feet and one’s back is upright

[Of a legislature, committee, court of law, etc.] Be engaged in its business

• Serve as a member of a council, jury, or other official body

[British] Take an examination

[In combination] Stay in someone’s house while they are away and look after their house or pet

• Babysit

To be accepted or considered in the way indicated

[Informal] To be acceptable to the stomach

[Of wind] To blow from the indicated direction

To fit, rest, or hang, as a garment

To remain quiet or inactive

To be located or situated

[Followed by on or upon] To rest or lie

Verb, transitive:
Cause (someone) to sit

• [Of an animal] Rest with the hind legs bent and the body close to the ground
• Ride or keep one’s seat on a horse
• [Of a table, room, or building] Be large enough for (a specified number of seated people)
• [sit for] Pose, typically in a seated position, for (an artist or photographer)
• [North American] Not use (a player) in a game

Be or remain in a particular position or state

• [With adverbial; of an item of clothing] Fit a person well or badly as specified
• [sit with] Be harmonious with

[British] Take an examination

[Of a bird] Rest on a branch

• Perch
• [Of a bird] Remain on its nest to incubate its egg

I’ve been on my own a long time, and I’m rather set in my ways.

His face set with determination, George told Elaine that he was leaving.

Is there a set menu?

Witnesses often delivered their testimony according to a set speech.

Raining cats and dogs is a set phrase.

The first family was set for a quiet night of rest.

Both of the kids are all set to get married.

Water costs look set to increase.

It was an approach set against tradition and authority.

He’s set on marrying that girl.

Exclamation:
Ready! Set! Go!

Get set!

Noun:
I got a new set of false teeth yesterday.

Professor Larkin discovered a new cell with two sets of chromosomes.

It’s okay. I brought a spare set of clothes.

Why don’t you get the chess set out?

I can’t find my set of Allen wrenches.

I think that’s the fifth electric fondue set we got.

It was a fashionable haunt of the literary set.

He took the first set 6–3.

The band will play a short four-song set.

They’re forming up, and John and Mathilde need one more couple to form a set.

Do five sets of ten squats.

The set of positive integers is the same as the set of natural numbers.

The set of his mind is an angry one.

In C. Murchison’s Handbook of Social Psychology, from the February issue of Poetry magazine (quoted in Allport’s excerpt) “Behind everything lies a cortical set, a nervous bias, perhaps inherited and permanent, perhaps acquired and temporary” Allport).

Square set was invented in the Comstock Lode, Virginia City, Nevada in the 1860s.

There was something about the shape and set of the eyes.

Paul knew it was hopeless once he noticed the determined set of her upper torso.

The rudder kept the dinghy straight against the set of the tide.

Set the sails!

The dogs had a dead set on the boar.

For any saw to cut properly requires just the right amount of set.

“The influence of environmental conditions during compression on the set recovery of the compression deformation was determined” (Kamke).

He has an impressive set of medical books.

Let the glue set up overnight.

These tap and die sets and kits are great watch repair tools for watchmakers.

Hank just bought a complete set of US Commemorative Stamps issued in 1953 and 1954.

I remember when we got our first color TV set.

The next set of tables will explore grades 1 and 1D static post test measurements that exhibit brittle behavior.

He was famous for his Folies-Bergère sets.

The magazine has interviews on set with top directors.

Brenda absolutely had to have a shampoo and set.

When planting onion sets, don’t bury them more than one inch under the soil.

The stage of fruit set follows flowering almost immediately.

For proper fruit set on apple trees, most cultivars require a second variety that blooms concurrently as a cross pollinator.

It has a much quicker set up and drying time.

These expanded character sets can also include accented letters and other special glyphs.

Numerals in an old-fashioned style font usually have varied set widths.

The set of his coat hugged his shoulders like a glove.

A badger sett is usually a network of tunnels, the largest of which can hold fifteen badgers.

The sett of a tartan was chosen by the wearer or weaver.

Proper Noun:
Set was the third of four children of the sky god and the earth goddess.

Always jealous of the respect given Osiris, Set murdered his brother.

Verb, intransitive:
The gentleman sets to and turns with the lady on his left hand.

Cook for a further thirty-five minutes until the filling has set.

The sun was setting and a warm red glow filled the sky.

A fair tide can be carried well past Land’s End before the stream sets to the north.

Looks like the apples have set.

Verb, transitive:
Dana set the mug of tea down.

Catherine set a chair by the bed.

The village was set among olive groves on a hill.

It was a spy novel set in Berlin.

The bracelet was set with emeralds.

Did Joe get the type set yet?

I want the article headings set in Times fourteen point.

Jen, would you set the table for five?

She set his poem to music.

To calculate the best days to set eggs, find the three fruitful birth signs.

Ma, I set out the tomato plants like you wanted.

When we were a safe distance from shore, all sails were set.

The hostages were set free.

Plunging oil prices set in motion an economic collapse in Houston.

The incident set me thinking.

He’ll set a man to watch you.

Now, the problem we have been set will require concentration.

Can you believe the guy set me a test to see if I loved him?

The scheme sets a precedent for other companies.

His time in the 25-meter freestyle set a national record.

They set a date for a full hearing at the end of February.

The unions had set a limit on the size of the temporary workforce.

We should set the clock ahead for tomorrow.

Honey, can you set the clock for 6 a.m. for me?

You have to be careful not to set the volume too high.

We are interested in the lower four bits, so set our mask to have these bits set to 1.

She had set her hair on small rollers.

You can’t wait too long to set that bone.

The dogs’ bones soon set.

Her features never set into a civil parade of attention.

Travis’s face was set as he looked up.

His bright eyes set in an expression of mocking amusement.

You must realize that your seven-month-old puppy won’t be able to set, flush, and/or retrieve its first bird without any assistance.

Michael set the fire last night.

This article explores the top three reasons why the tomatoes aren’t setting fruit.

The herb has flowered and started to set seed.

A perfect lady, she just set in her seat and stared.

Sit, Brownie.

Noun, singular:
Granny likes a sit in the shade.

The sit of her gown is awkward.

Let’s have a sit down.

Verb, intransitive:
You’d better sit down.

I sat next to him at dinner.

Congress continued to sit until March 16.

They were determined that women jurists should sit on the tribunal.

He was about to sit for his Cambridge entrance exam.

Kelly had been cat-sitting for me.

Hannah sits for me on Thursdays.

Something about his looks just didn’t sit right with me.

Something I ate for breakfast didn’t sit too well.

I’m studying now, and I plan to sit in June.

The wind sits in the west tonight.

The jacket sits well on your shoulders.

They let the matter sit.

The house sits well up on the slope.

An aura of greatness sits easily upon him.

Verb, transitive:
Sit yourself down, and I’ll bring you some coffee.

It is important for a dog to sit when instructed.

Whether you get off a horse sore or aching depends on how you sit the horse.

The cathedral sat about 3,000 people.

Walter Deverell asked her to sit for him.

The manager must decide who to sit in the World Series.

The fridge was sitting in a pool of water.

The blue uniform sat well on his big frame.

His shyness doesn’t sit easily with Hollywood tradition.

Pupils are required to sit nine subjects at GCSE.

Look at the cardinal sitting on the branch!

Don’t disturb her, she’s sitting on her eggs.

1. Late Old English, as a past participle of the first definition in the transitive verb.
2. Unknown.
3. Late Middle English and partly from the Old French sette, which is from the Latin secta meaning sect, partly from the first definition in the transitive verb.
4. Middle English in a variant of most uses of set, but the the -tt version must be used in technical senses.
5. Unknown.
6. Old English settan is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch zetten, the German setzen, also to sit.