1. v. (idiomatic, intransitive) To leave; to begin a journey or trip.
He set off in search of better opportunities.
2. v. (idiomatic, transitive) To begin; to cause; to initiate.
I had no idea that one simple comment would set off such a huge argument.
3. v. (idiomatic, transitive) To cause to explode, let off.
What a tragedy, that someone would set off a bomb in a crowded place.
4. v. (idiomatic, transitive) To make angry.
Don't set him off or he won't shut up all day.
5. v. (idiomatic, transitive) To enhance by emphasizing differences.
Her plain white dress was set off by a bright red stole.
6. v. (idiomatic, transitive) To offset, to compensate for: to reduce the effect of, by having a contrary effect.
My taxes did not increase because the amount of my raise was set off by my losses in the stock market.
7. v. (printing, historical) To deface or soil the next sheet; said of the ink on a freshly printed sheet, when another sheet comes in contact with it before it has had time to dry.
1. adv. In a direction away from the speaker or object.
He drove off in a cloud of smoke.
2. adv. Into a state of non-operation; into a state of non-existence.
Please switch off the light when you leave.
die off
Example Sentences
Your smallest action sets off another somewhere else, and is set off by it.
It has been much better than we expected but we were so apprehensive before we set off.
According to survivors, the vessel, which set off from a Libyan port, was overcrowded and decrepit and began leaking through its hull.
Since then, telescopes have peered at, and spacecraft have set off for, the Earth's dry and dusty neighbour.
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