Definitions for: Set-off


[v] cause to explode; "We exploded the nuclear bomb"
[v] set in motion or cause to begin; "The guide set the tour off to a good start"
[v] direct attention to, as if by means of contrast; "This dress accentuates your nice figure!"; "I set off these words by brackets"
[v] provoke or stir up; "incite a riot"; "set off great unrest among the people"
[v] put in motion or move to act; "trigger a reaction"; "actuate the circuits"
[v] leave; "The family took off for Florida"
[v] make up for; "His skills offset his opponent's superior strength"



Webster (1913) Definition: Set"-off`, n. [Set + off.]
1. That which is set off against another thing; an offset.

I do not contemplate such a heroine as a set-off to
the many sins imputed to me as committed against
woman. --D. Jerrold.

2. That which is used to improve the appearance of anything;
a decoration; an ornament.

3. (Law) A counterclaim; a cross debt or demand; a distinct
claim filed or set up by the defendant against the
plaintiff's demand.

Note: Set-off differs from recoupment, as the latter
generally grows out of the same matter or contract with
the plaintiff's claim, while the former grows out of
distinct matter, and does not of itself deny the
justice of the plaintiff's demand. Offset is sometimes
improperly used for the legal term set-off. See
Recoupment.

4. (Arch.) Same as Offset, n., 4.

5. (Print.) See Offset, 7.

Syn: Set-off, Offset.

Usage: Offset originally denoted that which branches off or
projects, as a shoot from a tree, but the term has
long been used in America in the sense of set-off.
This use is beginning to obtain in England; though
Macaulay uses set-off, and so, perhaps, do a majority
of English writers.

Synonyms: activate, actuate, blow up, bring out, cancel, depart, detonate, explode, incite, instigate, offset, part, set forth, set out, spark, spark off, start, start out, stir up, take off, touch off, trigger, trigger off, trip

See Also: accent, accentuate, act, balance, begin, blaze, blaze out, burst, change integrity, come about, commence, counteract, counterbalance, countervail, dispense with, dynamite, emphasise, emphasize, equilibrate, equilibrise, equilibrize, foreground, fulminate, give up, go away, go forth, go on, hap, happen, highlight, initiate, lead off, leave, lift off, move, neutralize, occur, part with, pass, pass off, pick up, pioneer, play up, provoke, punctuate, raise, raise, roar off, sally forth, sally out, spare, spotlight, start, stimulate, stress, take place

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