Definition

1. Verb (Transitive):
   • To establish, organize, or arrange something for a specific purpose or use: To make the necessary preparations or create the structure for an activity, organization, or system to begin functioning.
   • To assemble, build, or erect something: To put together the parts of a structure or device so it is ready for use.
   • To trick or frame someone: To arrange a situation, often deceitfully, to make an innocent person appear guilty.

Usage and Examples

• To establish or organize:

  • She set up a new business last year.
  • The committee was set up to investigate the issue.
  • We need to set up a meeting for next week.

• To assemble or prepare for use:

  • Can you help me set up the new computer?
  • They set up the stage for the concert.
  • I set up the tent in about twenty minutes.

• To trick or frame deceitfully (often used in passive voice):

  • He claimed he was set up by his rivals.
  • The evidence was planted to set up the suspect.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• "to set oneself up as": To establish oneself in a particular role or profession.
  • After retiring, he set himself up as a consultant.
• "to set up house/home": To establish a household in a new place.
  • The young couple set up home in a small apartment.

Variants and Related Words

• Setup (noun): The way in which something is organized, arranged, or structured.
  • The technical setup for the broadcast was very complex.
• Set-up (adjective, often hyphenated): Describing something designed to fail or incriminate.
  • The whole deal was a set-up from the beginning.

Synonyms

• Establish: To start or create something intended to last.
• Arrange: To put things in a particular order or position.
• Assemble: To fit together the component parts of something.
• Frame: To produce false evidence to make someone appear guilty.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Set up shop: To start operating a business, especially in a particular location.
  • The artisan set up shop in the city's old market district.
• Set up camp: To prepare a place for camping by pitching tents, etc.
  • We set up camp by the lake before sunset.

Idioms and Common Phrases

• Set someone up for life: To provide someone with enough money or resources so they never have to work again.
  • Winning the lottery set him up for life.
• Set the stage for something: To create the conditions in which something is likely to happen.
  • The treaty set the stage for a long period of peace.

Verb

1. make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc
   • Get the children ready for school!
   • prepare for war
   • I was fixing to leave town after I paid the hotel bill
2. equip with sails or masts
   • rig a ship
3. arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events
   • arrange my schedule
   • set up one's life
   • I put these memories with those of bygone times
4. erect and fasten
   • pitch a tent
5. arrange the outcome of by means of deceit
   • rig an election
6. place
   • Her manager had set her up at the Ritz
7. set up for use
   • install the washer and dryer
   • We put in a new sink
8. produce
   • The scientists set up a shock wave
9. take or catch as if in a snare or trap
   • I was set up!
   • The innocent man was framed by the police
10. begin, or enable someone else to begin, a venture by providing the means, logistics, etc.
    • set up an election
11. put into a proper or systematic order
    • arrange the books on the shelves in chronological order
12. get ready for a particular purpose or event
    • set up an experiment
    • set the table
    • lay out the tools for the surgery
13. construct, build, or erect
    • Raise a barn
14. create by putting components or members together
    • She pieced a quilt
    • He tacked together some verses
    • They set up a committee
15. set up or found
    • She set up a literacy program