Word.ws English Dictionary

set out one's stall

UK/ˌsɛt‿aʊt wʌnz ˈstɔːl//ˌsɛt‿aʊt wʌnz ˈstɔl/

set out one's stall verb: to make publicly clear one's position with reference to a particular idea or philosophy, or what one can do.

Verb

set out one's stall (third-person singular simple present sets out one's stall, present participle setting out one's stall, simple past and past participle set out one's stall)

  1. (UK, idiomatic, intransitive) To make publicly clear one's position with reference to a particular idea or philosophy, or what one can do.
    • John has obviously set out his stall for the Green Party.
    • This interview is at RDG [the Rail Delivery Group]'s request: it wants to set out its stall for the most challenging of years ahead.2021 January 27, Paul Clifton, “What is the Future of the RDG?”, in Rail, number 923, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 40
  2. (UK, idiomatic, intransitive) To decide to do something.
  3. (UK, idiomatic, intransitive) To do something which creates a favourable impression.
  4. (UK, idiomatic, intransitive) To (decide to) play (especially to defend) in a determined manner.

Forms of set out one's stall

third-person singular presentsets out one's stall
present participlesetting out one's stall
past participleset out one's stall
pastset out one's stall

Origin of set out one's stall

Probably a reference to someone setting out a stall (“bench or table for the sale of merchandise; small open-fronted shop”) and publicly displaying the goods they intend to sell.

Words that rhyme with set out one's stall

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about set out one's stall

What does set out one's stall mean?
Set out one's stall means to make publicly clear one's position with reference to a particular idea or philosophy, or what one can do.
What part of speech is set out one's stall?
Set out one's stall is a verb.
How do you pronounce set out one's stall?
Set out one's stall is pronounced /ˌsɛt‿aʊt wʌnz ˈstɔːl/ (UK).
What is the past tense of set out one's stall?
The past tense of set out one's stall is set out one's stall.

Words near set out one's stall in the dictionary

  1. set one's watch by someone
  2. set onto
  3. set operation
  4. set operations
  5. set out
  6. set out one's stall
  7. set over
  8. set pen to paper
  9. set phasers to
  10. set phrase
  11. set phrases

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: set out one's stall (page history and authors). 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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-set out one's stall.oga.

Cite this entry: “set out one's stall.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/set_out_one%27s_stall. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.