set out
— phrasal verb with set uk/set/us/set/verb present participle setting, past tense and past participle set
C2 to start an activity with a particular aim:
She set out with the aim of becoming the youngest ever winner of the championship.
[ + to infinitive ] They set out to discover a cure for cancer.
to start a journey
More examples
- He set out to become chief executive.
- I don't set out to annoy him - it just seems to happen.
- He set out to crush all his enemies.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Starting and beginning
- be in the first flush of idiom
- become
- begin
- branch out
- break into sth
- export
- go ahead
- ground
- incipient
- initiator
- instate
- introduce
- kick
- kick-start
- strike
- touch sth off
- train
- trigger
- wade in
- weave
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Departing