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onset

American  
[on-set, awn-] / ˈɒnˌsɛt, ˈɔn- /

noun

  1. a beginning or start.

    the onset of winter.

  2. an assault or attack.

    an onset of the enemy.

  3. Phonetics. the segment of a syllable preceding the nucleus, as the gr in great.

onset British  
/ ˈɒnˌsɛt /

noun

  1. an attack; assault

  2. a start; beginning

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of onset

1525–35; on + set, after the verb phrase set on

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.