Definition of Set back

1. Verb. Hold back to a later time. "Let's postpone the exam"


2. Verb. Slow down the progress of; hinder. "His late start set him back"
Generic synonyms: Hinder, Impede
Derivative terms: Setback

3. Verb. Cost a certain amount. "My daughter's wedding set me back $20,000"
Exact synonyms: Knock Back, Put Back
Generic synonyms: Be, Cost

Definition of Set back

1. Verb. (transitive) To delay or obstruct. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To remove from or allow distance. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive idiomatic) To cost money, as ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Set Back

set-to
set-top box
set-top boxes
set-up
set-ups
set (psychology)
set a spell
set ablaze
set about
set afire
set aflame
set ahead
set apart
set ashore
set aside
set back (current term)
set chisel
set decoration
set down
set fire
set foot
set for life
set forth
set free
set gun
set in
set in motion
set in one's ways
set in stone
set list

Literary usage of Set back

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Report of Proceedings (1908)
"of the lock, right up to the end of the wall, on tracks which arc set back 2 meters from the line of the chamber wall, and are 2.5 m. above the foot-bridge. ..."

2. A Cycle of Adams Letters, 1861-1865 by Charles Francis Adams, Henry Adams (1920)
"Everything is set back for at least six months and just now, though not at all discouraged or disheartened, we feel here much as if we had been knocked over ..."

3. Boot Camps for Juvenile Offenders: An Implementation Evaluation of Three by Blair B. Borque (1997)
"... can commit more than one type of infraction and receive more than one sanction. Table 4.8. Proportion of Participants set back: Year 1 Platoons ..."

4. The Origin of the Late War: Traced from the Beginning of the Constitution to by George Lunt (1866)
"Virginia and other States early for Emancipation by Gradual Process, but set back by Abolition Movements in the North. IT has often been remarked that ..."

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