set off

Questions about set off

What does set off mean?

set off means "put in motion or move to act". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for set off?

Close synonyms include trip, actuate, trigger, activate, spark off. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is set off a common word?

set off is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.