phrasal verb

• 1set about somethingStart doing something with vigour or determination.

  ‘it would be far better to admit the problem openly and set about tackling it’

  More example sentences

  • ‘She then sets about building the nest laying her eggs as the work proceeds.’
  • ‘After breakfast he sets about cleaning his truck till it gleams and drives off to work at a stone quarry.’
  • ‘So what he does is identify a specific problem in the workplace and sets about resolving it.’
  • ‘I arrived in Scotland today and set about exploring the ruins of Tantallon Castle.’
  • ‘Car companies, big and small, embraced the new category and set about creating cars for it.’
  • ‘But this team has shown over the year to be up to the challenge and set about the task of closing the gap.’
  • ‘She set about getting rid of the dresses and her hick accent and her love of cowboy songs.’
  • ‘They set about finding out what their peers were eating and the results don't make for good news.’
  • ‘In the millennium year the club set about an ambitious task of upgrading their facilities.’
  • ‘I am relieved to see that our government has set about dealing with this problem.’

  Synonyms

  begin, start, make a start on, go about, set to, get to work on, get down to, get going on, embark on, tackle, attack, address oneself to, buckle down to, undertake

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• 2set about someoneBritish informal Attack someone.

  More example sentences

  • ‘he set about me with a strap’
  • ‘He claimed the cabbie had assaulted him, setting about him with a wheel brace and then trying to run him over.’
  • ‘As he tried to recover it, the other side's players thought she was being assaulted and set about him.’
  • ‘You cheer when he manages to gain respect by setting about tormentors with a fistful of batteries.’

  Synonyms

  attack, assail, assault, hit, strike, beat, give someone a beating, thrash, pound, pummel, wallop, hammer, tear into, set upon, fall on, turn on, let fly at

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