Word.ws English Dictionary

setting at defiance

setting at defiance is the present participle and gerund of set at defiance.

Meaning of set at defiance

Verb

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

  1. To defy, flout; violate or disobey shamelessly.
    • In the town of Angla […] no person may appear on horseback in the streets […]. In former days even Europeans were forbidden to ride on horseback in Angla; and missionaries who attempted to set the local prejudice at defiance have been pelted with sticks and dirt by the outraged natives.1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 8, page 45

Questions about setting at defiance

What is setting at defiance the present participle and gerund of?
Setting at defiance is the present participle and gerund of set at defiance.

Words near setting at defiance in the dictionary

  1. setting alight
  2. setting an example
  3. setting apart
  4. setting aright
  5. setting aside
  6. setting at defiance
  7. setting at naught
  8. setting at nought
  9. setting back
  10. setting by
  11. setting by the ears

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: setting at defiance (page history and authors); set at defiance (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.

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