setup

[set-uhp]

noun

1. organization; arrangement.

2. an act or instance of setting up or getting ready.

   The setup of the lights and camera took most of the morning.

3. the carriage of the body; bearing.

4. a camera position, as for a particular shot.

5. everything required for an alcoholic drink except the liquor, as a glass, ice, and soda water, as served to patrons who provide their own liquor.

6. Informal.

   1. an undertaking or contest deliberately made easy.

   2. a match or game arranged with an opponent who can be defeated without risk or effort.

   3. an opponent easy to defeat.

7. Sports.

   1. a shot or play that results in a puck, shuttlecock, ball, or balls being so positioned as to provide a player with an easy opportunity for a winning shot.

      a playmaker who excels in setups.

   2. the position of such a puck, ball, etc..

      a setup close to and to the left of the goalkeeper.

   3. the puck, ball, etc., itself.

      The wing banged the setup into the goal.

8. an arrangement of all the tools, parts, apparatus, etc., necessary for any of various specific jobs or purposes.

9. the equipment or items necessary for a particular activity or period; kit.

   Each student gets a weekly setup of clean blankets, sheets, and towels.

10. a plan or projected course of action.

11. a prearranged situation or circumstance, usually created to fool or trap someone; trick; scheme.

Usage

See login.

Word History and Origins

Origin of setup¹

First recorded in 1600–10; noun use of verb phrase set up

Example Sentences

That setup, he said, can perform most of the functions needed for electronics assembly, such as soldering, inserting screws or peeling off protective films.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The trade doesn’t work every year, but the setup is simple enough: Buy “the market” at the close of trading on Oct.

Read more on MarketWatch

This setup allowed the researchers to distinguish the separate and combined influences of diet quality and physical activity on the brain and behavior.

Read more on Science Daily

This recent action offers a well-defined risk/reward setup.

Read more on Barron's

It sounds like a joke setup, but there was nothing funny about this near-terminal event for our longstanding friendship—this vignette of being a Jewish New Yorker in 2025.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• composition 
• foundation 
• set-up 
• structure 
• system