ˈset-aˌside BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
1 . British English an arrangement in the European Union in which a government pays farmers to leave some of their fields empty, in order to avoid producing too much of a crop and to keep the price higher
2 . an arrangement in the US in which a local government helps small businesses to develop by making financial help available to them:
In 1976, Connecticut established one of the nation’s first set-aside programs.
3 . an amount of money that is kept so that it can be used for a special purpose SYN reserve