setting fair

Verb

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

1. To provide a smooth, finished surface on plaster after roughing in.
   • The ceilings of the upper story to be lathed, plastered, and set fair; and the walls of the same, with those of the living rooms, to be rendered and set fair.1849, Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England
2. To become favorable.
   • The wind sets fair for news to go to Ireland, But none returns.1595, Shakespeare, King Richard II
3. To develop weather that is clear and pleasant.
   • The day set fair without a breath of wind.2007, M. C. Beaton, Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate, →ISBN, page 151
4. To put in order; to make neat.
   • He is then furnished with dry sheets, hood, &c. brought to the ground for the purpose; when being led home to the stable, he is supplied with the necessary quantity of soft water, a little warm, previous to undergoing a regular and complete dressing, with greater nicety, than in the open air: when...1803, William Taplin, The Sporting Dictionary and Rural Repository of General Information, page 390

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