Word.ws English Dictionary

set on

set on verb: to attack.

Verb

set on (third-person singular simple present sets on, present participle setting on, simple past and past participle set on)

  1. To attack.
    • Cassio hath here been set on in the dark.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  2. To encourage someone, or an animal, to attack someone.
    • I will set the dogs on you, if you don't leave right now!
  3. To be determined to do or achieve something.
    • I had my mind pretty well set on working for a small company.
    • Chula[longkorn University is] still set on demolishing historic shrine – once it evicts caretakers2020 June 17, Coconuts Bangkok, “Chula still set on demolishing historic shrine – once it evicts caretakers”, in coconuts.co, coconuts.co, retrieved 17 Jun 2020
    Synonyms:
    set upon

set on meaning in Tamil and Malayalam

set on in Tamil

உசுப்பு, பங்கிடற்கான

set on in Malayalam

assail, attack, assault
കടന്നാക്രമിക്കുക, ആക്രമിക്കുക, പതിയിരുന്ന് ആക്രമിക്കു ക, ചാടിവീഴുക, മർദ്ദിക്കുക, ദേഹോപദ്രവമേല്പിക്കുക

Synonyms of set on

Forms of set on

third-person singular presentsets on
present participlesetting on
past participleset on
pastset on

Origin of set on

For semantic parallels, compare cognate German ansetzen; Russian насе́сть pf (naséstʹ), наседа́ть impf (nasedátʹ).

Questions about set on

What does set on mean?
Set on means to attack.
What is set on in Tamil?
Set on in Tamil is உசுப்பு, பங்கிடற்கான. See Set on meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is set on?
Set on is a verb.
What is the past tense of set on?
The past tense of set on is set on.

Words near set on in the dictionary

  1. set netting
  2. set of one's jaw
  3. set of pipes
  4. set of wheels
  5. set off
  6. set on
  7. set on a pedestal
  8. set on fire
  9. set on foot
  10. set one's affairs in order
  11. set one's cap at

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: set on (page history and authors); set on (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); set on (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “set on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/set_on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.