set-back

[ set-bak ]

noun

1. Surveying. the interval by which a chain or tape exceeds the length being measured.
2. setback ( def 4 ).

set back

verb

1. to hinder; impede
2. informal.
   to cost (a person) a specified amount

noun

1. anything that serves to hinder or impede
2. a recession in the upper part of a high building, esp one that increases the daylight at lower levels
3. Also calledoffsetsetoff a steplike shelf where a wall is reduced in thickness

Word History and Origins

Origin of set-back¹

Special use of setback

Example Sentences

By any measure, this accident will have set back the development program by years.

From The Daily Beast

Leonard talks about the private schools we pass and the expensive homes set back in the woods.

From The Daily Beast

Or he would have me jump in his car if we were going from set back to basecamp for lunch.

From The Daily Beast

Being forced into poverty is a shock to them, and they are initially set back on their heels.

From The Daily Beast

To get your skill set back, you should be with an older woman—like Don Jon with Esther (Moore).

From The Daily Beast

On the opposite side of the stream, set back about thirty paces from the brink, stood a granite boulder.

From Project Gutenberg

The Darwood farmhouse set back from the road, among some cedar trees.

From Project Gutenberg

In order to shew the riming more clearly, I have 'set back' the 3rd, 6th, and 7th lines of each stanza.

From Project Gutenberg

Set back on the middle of two lots, it was, with a cement drive sloping up from the street to the garage backed against the alley.

From Project Gutenberg

She had finished her polishing and set back the silver, to eye it with a critical and delighted gaze.

From Project Gutenberg