set up meaning

set up as a verb

1. set up or found
   • She set up a literacy program

   Synonyms: establish, found, launch

   Type of: open

2. create by putting components or members together
   • She pieced a quilt
   • He tacked together some verses
   • They set up a committee

   Synonyms: assemble, piece, put together, tack, tack together

   Type of: join, make

   Kinds: confect, jumble, reassemble, configure, compound, rig up

3. construct, build, or erect
   • Raise a barn

   Synonyms: raise, erect, rear, put up

   Type of: construct

4. get ready for a particular purpose or event
   • set up an experiment
   • set the table
   • lay out the tools for the surgery

   Synonyms: lay out, set

   Type of: fix

5. put into a proper or systematic order
   • arrange the books on the shelves in chronological order

   Synonyms: arrange

   Type of: put

   Kinds: regularize, order, straighten, rearrange, serialize, alphabetize, organize, stratify, string, marshal, string out, preen

6. begin, or enable someone else to begin, a venture by providing the means, logistics, etc.
   • set up an election

   Type of: organize

7. take or catch as if in a snare or trap
   • I was set up!
   • The innocent man was framed by the police

   Synonyms: ensnare, entrap, frame

   Type of: deceive

   Related forms: setup

8. produce
   • The scientists set up a shock wave

   Synonyms: effect, effectuate

   Type of: cause

   Kinds: carry through, draw, precipitate, induce, serve

9. set up for use
   • install the washer and dryer
   • We put in a new sink

   Synonyms: install, instal, put in

   Type of: put

   Kinds: retrofit, reinstall, post

10. place
    • Her manager had set her up at the Ritz

    Synonyms: install, instal, establish

11. arrange the outcome of by means of deceit
    • rig an election

    Synonyms: rig

    Type of: cheat

12. erect and fasten
    • pitch a tent

    Synonyms: pitch

    Type of: rear

    Kinds: camp

13. arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events
    • arrange my schedule
    • set up one's life
    • I put these memories with those of bygone times

    Synonyms: arrange, put, order

    Type of: organize

    Kinds: synchronize, phrase

14. equip with sails or masts
    • rig a ship

    Synonyms: rig, set

    Type of: equip

15. 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

    Synonyms: fix, prepare, ready, gear up, set

    Type of: change

    Kinds: socialize, provide, cram, precondition, fix, mount, winterize, summerize, prime, cultivate, brace

How to pronounce set up

set up is pronounced /sɛt ʌp/ in British English and /sɛt ʌp/ in American English. It has 2 syllables.