transitive verb
1. obsolete : to equip and send out
2.
a. : issue , promulgate
this act sets out the personnel of a tribunal as follows — F.D.Smith & Barbara Wilcox
b. : to recite, describe, or state at large
distributed copies of a pamphlet setting out his ideas in full — S.F.Mason
3. obsolete : to place in relief : set off
4.
a. : to arrange and present graphically or systematically
the grammar is well set out
in fig. 67 you will see set out the semaphore code — Peter Heaton
b. : to mark out (as a design) : lay out the plan of
sets out the wood with square and marking knife, shapes and joints it — Choice of Careers: Furniture Manufacturing
c. : to smooth or flatten (a wet hide or skin) when dressing
5. : to separate (a railroad car) from a train and place on a siding
6. : to begin with a definite purpose : intend , undertake
given up the attempt to read poets who set out deliberately to mystify him — Douglas Stewart
necessary for the effect he set out to produce — Bernard De Voto
intransitive verb
: to start out on a course, a journey, or a career
set out across the sea
set out early from his cabin
the engineering course he had originally set out on