set-to

[ set-too ]

noun

, plural set-tos.

1. a usually brief, sharp fight or argument.

set to

verb

1. to begin working
2. to start fighting

noun

1. informal.
   a brief disagreement or fight

Word History and Origins

Origin of set-to¹

First recorded in 1735–45; noun use of verb phrase set to

Example Sentences

Itching for a robust little set-to, they rode around waving the California Republic’s Bear Flag — which by then was a states’ rights symbol.

From Los Angeles Times

Black leaders and groups sponsored the first Black float, “Freedom Bursts Forth,” for the 1964 parade, after a very public set-to over the parade’s absence of people of color.

From Los Angeles Times

The three-issue set-to opened in Marvel Mystery Comics No. 8 and is an early example of the Marvel motto “to reflect the world outside your window.”

From New York Times

To date, the lesson from the set-to — that publishing a senator arguing that federal troops could be deployed against rioters is unacceptable — will forever circumscribe what issues opinion sections are allowed to address.

From Washington Post

The set-to in this case was between those who applauded the “Memoria” strategy as a defense of the aesthetic superiority of going to the movies and those who scorned it as elitist and exclusionary.

From New York Times

Related Words

• adopt
• assume
• commence
• continue
• embrace
• enter
• initiate
• open
• pick up
• renew
• reopen
• resume
• tackle
• undertake