set foot

English

Alternative forms

• step foot

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

set foot (third-person singular simple present sets foot, present participle setting foot, simple past and past participle set foot)

1. (idiomatic, rhetorical with in) To enter
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4

     Yet had I scarce set foot in the passage when I stopped, remembering how once already this same evening I had played the coward, and run home scared with my own fears.

2. (idiomatic, rhetorical with on) To step onto
   • After the boat capsized, I thought that I would never set foot on dry land again.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with set on foot.

Translations

to enter

• French: mettre les pieds (fr), mettre le pied (fr), poser le pied, poser les pieds
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: poner el pie

to step onto

• French: poser le pied, poser les pieds
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Anagrams

• footest