clap, lay or set eyes on (informal)

To see

cry one's eyes out see under cry

electric eye see electric

eyeball to eyeball

(of a discussion, confrontation, diplomacy, etc) at close quarters, dealing with matters very frankly and firmly (also eye to eye)

eye for an eye

1. Retaliation, lex talionis (Bible, Exodus 21.24)
2. Justice enacted in the same way or to the same degree as the crime

eye of day

The sun

eyes down

An interjection used at the start of a bingo game, or of any non-physical contest

eye up (informal)

To consider the (esp sexual) attractiveness of

get or keep one's eye in

To become or remain proficient

give an eye to

To attend to

give a person the eye (informal)

To look at someone in a sexually inviting way

glad eye, green-eyed see glad¹and green¹

have an eye to

1. To contemplate
2. To have regard to
3. To incline towards

have one's eye on

1. To keep in mind
2. To consider acquisitively

hit one in the eye

To be obvious

in eye

In sight

in one's mind's eye

In one's imagination

in the eyes of

In the estimation or opinion of

in the wind's eye

Against the wind

keep one's (or an) eye on

1. To observe closely
2. To watch

keep one's eye or eyes skinned or peeled (for)

To be keenly watchful (for)

make a person open his or her eyes

To cause him or her astonishment

make eyes at

To look at in an amorous way, to ogle

mind your eye (slang)

Take care

my eye

An interjection expressing disagreement

naked eye see under naked

one in the eye

A rebuff

open a person's eyes

1. To make someone see
2. To show someone something of which he or she is ignorant

pick the eyes out of (Aust informal)

To choose and take the best parts of

pipe one's eye or put a finger in the eye

To weep

private eye see under private

put a person's eye out

1. To blind someone
2. To supplant someone in favour

raise an eyebrow

To be mildly surprised, shocked or doubtful

see eye to eye

To think alike (from Bible, Isaiah 52.8, orig meaning see with one's own eyes)

see with half an eye

To see without difficulty

shut one's eyes to

To ignore

throw or make sheep's eyes at

To ogle

turn a blind eye to

To pretend not to see

under the eye of

Under the observation of

up to the eyes, eyeballs or eyebrows

1. Deeply involved (in)
2. Extremely busy

with or having an eye to

Considering

set /set/

1. To put, place, or fix in position or required condition
2. To dispose, array, arrange
3. To restore (a broken bone) to its normal alignment
4. To apply
5. To cause to be
6. To plant
7. To stake
8. To embed
9. To frame
10. To mount
11. To beset or bestow about
12. To stud, dot, sprinkle, variegate
13. To put in type (printing)
14. To compose (type)
15. To form or represent, eg in jewels
16. To adjust to show the correct (or a specified) time, etc
17. To spread, lay, cover (a table) with the food, dishes, etc for a meal, or (Scot and dialect) to cover the table with the food, dishes, etc for (a meal)
18. To regulate
19. To appoint
20. To ordain
21. To assign
22. To prescribe
23. To propound
24. To put on a course, start off
25. To incite, direct
26. To put in opposition
27. To posit
28. To cause to become solid, coagulated, rigid, fixed, or motionless
29. To begin to form (eg a fruit or seed)
30. To rate, value
31. To pitch (eg a tune)
32. To compose or fit music to
33. To position (sails) to catch the wind
34. To arrange (hair) in a particular style when wet, so that it will remain in it when dry
35. To seat (obsolete and dialect)
36. To put (a hen) on eggs
37. To put (eggs) under a hen
38. (of a gundog) to indicate by crouching
39. To sharpen (eg a razor)
40. To defeat (one's opponent's contract) usu by a stated number of tricks (bridge)
41. To escort (Scot and N Eng dialect)
42. To lease or let to a tenant (esp Scot)
43. To become, befit (chiefly Scot)
44. Conversely, to appear to advantage in (Scot)

1. To go down towards or below the horizon, to decline
2. To offer a stake
3. To become rigid, fixed, hard, solid, or permanent
4. To coagulate
5. (of a broken bone) to knit
6. To settle down
7. (of eg bone) to begin to develop
8. To have, take or start along a course or direction
9. To dance in a facing position
10. To acquire a set or bend
11. (of dogs) to point out game
12. To apply or betake oneself
13. To hang in position
14. To be in session
15. To sit (now obsolete or dialect)

1. In any of the senses of the participle
2. Prescribed
3. Deliberate, intentional
4. Prearranged
5. Formal
6. Settled
7. Fixed
8. Rigid
9. Determined
10. Regular
11. Established
12. Ready

1. A group of persons or things, esp of a type that associate, occur, or are used together or have something in common
2. A clique, coterie, exclusive group
3. A complete series, collection, or complement
4. A company performing a dance
5. A series of dance movements or figures
6. A complete apparatus, esp for receiving radio or television signals
7. An act, process, mode, or time of setting
8. A setting
9. An inclination
10. A direction
11. The scenery, properties, etc set up for a scene (theatre, etc)
12. The place where filming takes place (cinematography)
13. Any collection of objects, called ‘elements’, defined by specifying the elements (mathematics)
14. The basic haploid complement of chromosomes (biology)
15. Habitual or temporary form, posture, carriage, position, or tendency
16. The items performed by a singer or band at a concert
17. A series of games, the winner being the first side to win at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent, usu with a tie-break played to decide the winner if the score reaches six games all (tennis)
18. A shot sending the cue ball against an object ball, with the aim of causing a third ball that is touching the object ball to be propelled towards a pocket (snooker)
19. A set hairstyle
20. The hang of a garment
21. A young cutting, bulb or tuber, for planting
22. A gun dog's indication of game
23. Bodily build (now dialect)
24. Permanent effect of strain
25. The constitution of a burgh
26. (for the following senses, set or sett): the number of a weaver's reed, determining the number of threads to the inch
27. The texture resulting
28. A square or a pattern of tartan
29. A paving-block of stone or wood
30. A tool for setting in various senses
31. A badger's burrow
32. A lease or letting (Scot)
33. A mining lease or area worked (Cornwall, etc)
34. A place with fixed fishing-nets

setˈness noun

settˈer noun

1. Someone who or something that sets
2. A dog that sets
3. A dog of a breed derived from the spaniel and (probably) pointer
4. A person who finds victims for thieves, etc
5. A spy

settˈing noun

1. The act of someone who sets
2. The direction of current
3. Fixation
4. Surroundings
5. Environment
6. The scenery and props used in a single scene of a play, film, etc
7. A level of power, volume, etc, to which a machine or other device can be set
8. Mounting of jewellery
9. The period of time in which a play, novel, etc, is set
10. A set of cutlery, crockery and glassware laid out for use by one person
11. Adaptation to music
12. Music composed for a song, poem, etc
13. A system of dividing pupils in mixed-ability classes into ability groups for certain subjects only
14. The period of play after a game has been set (to two, three or five) (badminton)

setˈ-aside noun

(also land set-aside) the practice or policy of taking agricultural land out of production (set-aside scheme specif that introduced to reduce EU grain surpluses, with compensatory payments to farmers)

setˈback noun

1. A check, reverse, or relapse
2. A disappointment or misfortune
3. A receding section in the upper part of a tall building

set dancing noun

A traditional form of Irish dancing, usu involving a group of four couples in a square formation

setˈ-down noun

1. A rebuff or snub
2. A scolding

setˈline noun

Any of various kinds of fishing-line suspended between buoys, etc, and having shorter baited lines attached to it

set menu noun

A complete meal with limited options offered by a restaurant at a fixed price

setˈ-off noun

1. A claim set against another
2. A crossclaim which partly offsets the original claim
3. A counterbalance
4. An ornament
5. A contrast, foil
6. A setting forth
7. An offset (architecture and printing)

setˈ-out noun

1. An outfit
2. Preparations
3. A display of dishes, dress, etc
4. Company or clique

set piece noun

1. A piece of theatrical scenery with a supporting framework, distinguished from a side-scene or drop-scene
2. An elaborately arranged display in fireworks
3. A painstakingly prepared performance
4. (a carefully planned and executed piece of team-work at) a corner or free kick (football, etc)

setˈ-piece adjective

set point noun (tennis, etc)

A point which wins a set

set pot noun

A fixed boiler or copper

setˈscrew noun

A screw used to prevent relative motion by exerting pressure with its point

set speech noun

A studied oration

set square noun

A right-angled triangular drawing instrument

setˈ-stitch'd adjective (Sterne)

Perh embroidered

setter-forthˈ noun

set terms plural noun

Deliberately chosen, usu outspoken language

setter-offˈ noun

setter-onˈ noun

setter-outˈ noun

setter-upˈ noun

set theory noun (mathematics)

The investigation of the properties of sets

setting lotion noun

A lotion containing gum or resin used to fix or set a hairstyle

set-toˈ noun (pl set-tosˈ or set-to'sˈ)

1. A bout
2. A fight or argument
3. A fierce contest

setˈ-topˈ box noun

A device that allows a conventional television set to receive a digital signal

setˈ-up noun

1. The arrangement, organization, configuration or structure of anything
2. The place where an instrument for measuring, surveying, recording, etc is set up
3. A situation, the outcome of which has been prearranged, eg one in which someone is made a victim (informal)
4. A shot, forming part of a scene, consisting of part of the action, close-up or location, etc (film)
5. Bodily carriage and physique. See also set up below

dead set

1. Determined (on)
2. Indisputable (Aust sl)

set about

1. To begin, take in hand
2. To attack
3. To spread (rumours)

set against

1. To assail
2. To compare or balance

set (a game) to two, three or five (badminton)

To set, in the final stages of a game, a new deciding score of two, three, or five points

set alight, set light to, set fire to or set on fire

To cause to break into flame and burn

set apart

1. To put aside, or out of consideration
2. To separate, distinguish

set aside

1. To put away or to one side
2. To reject, annul
3. To reserve, lay by
4. To take (agricultural land) out of production, to leave fallow

set at naught see under naught

set back

1. To check, delay, hinder, reverse
2. To cost (in money; informal)
3. To place at some distance behind
4. To surprise, take aback

set by

1. To lay up
2. To put aside
3. To value or esteem, to care (archaic)

set down

1. To lay on the ground
2. To put in writing, record
3. To appoint a time for (Shakespeare)
4. To judge, esteem, regard
5. To snub
6. To pitch, encamp (Shakespeare)
7. To attribute, ascribe
8. To lay down authoritatively
9. To stop and allow (passengers) to alight from a taxi, bus, car, etc

set eyes on

To see, catch sight of

set fair

1. (of weather) steadily fair
2. (of future prospects, outlook, etc) settled and secure
3. Likely, to all appearances (to do the desired thing)

set fire to see set alight above.

set forth

1. To exhibit, display
2. To state, expound, declare
3. To praise, recommend
4. To publish
5. To start on a journey

set free

To release, liberate

set going

To put in motion

set hand to

To set to work on

set in

1. To begin
2. To become prevalent or established
3. (of wind, etc) to run landwards (nautical)

set in hand

1. To undertake
2. To set someone about doing

set little, much, etc, by

To regard or value little, much, etc

set off

1. To start off
2. To send off
3. To show in relief or to advantage
4. To counterbalance
5. To make an offset, mark an opposite page
6. To mark off, lay off

set on

1. To attack or incite to attack
2. To instigate
3. Bent or determined upon

set oneself

To bend one's energies

set oneself against

To oppose

set one's face against see under face

set one's hand to

1. To start work on, set about
2. To sign

set one's heart on see under heart

set one's teeth

To clench the teeth, as in strong resolution

set on fire see set alight above.

set on foot

To set going, to start

set out

1. To start, go forth
2. To display
3. To begin with an intention
4. To expound
5. To mark off
6. To adorn
7. To equip and send forth

set sail see under sail¹

set to

1. To affix
2. To apply oneself
3. To set (eg a bone) (Shakespeare)

set up

1. To erect
2. To put up
3. To exalt, raise up (set you, him etc up (Scot; ironic) what a cheek you've, he's, etc got!)
4. To arrange
5. To begin
6. To enable to begin
7. To place in view
8. To put in type
9. To begin a career, esp in one's own business
10. To make pretensions
11. To arrange matters so as to implicate, incriminate, embarrass or make a fool of (another person) (informal) (setˈ-up noun)

set upon

1. To set on
2. Determined on