set back

Related to set back: gloating, follow through

set (someone or something) back

1. To cost someone a specific amount of money. Getting the car fixed is going to set me back nearly a grand. It's estimated the failed product set the company back roughly $2 million. Wow, how much did those shoes set you back?
2. To delay someone for a specific amount of time. That computer virus wiped out our data and set us back nearly a month in our work. He was supposed to arrive by 9, but the traffic jam set him back about an hour.
3. To delay or hinder something. A series of conflicts within the administration has set healthcare reform back yet again.
4. To cause someone or something to be positioned some distance behind or away (from someone or something else). We made sure to set the audience back from the main stage by 10 feet or so to prevent anyone from trying to clamber on during the performance. You'll want to set this statue back a bit, or it will block your view of the courtyard.
5. To position something within a recessed area (of something). The bus stop bench was set back in the wall along the sidewalk so that it wouldn't get in the way of pedestrians.
See also: back, set
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

set someone back (some amount of money)

to cost someone (an amount of money). This coat set me back about $250. That fancy dinner at the restaurant last night really set us back.
See also: back, set

set something back

 and put something back
to set something, like a timepiece, to a lower number. (Put is less common.) It's that time of year when you must set your clocks and watches back! Set back your clock tonight. I have to put all the clocks back.
See also: back, set
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

set back

1. Slow down the progress of, hinder, as in The project was set back by the frequent absences of staff members. [First half of 1500s]
2. Cost, as in That car set me back twenty thousand dollars. [Colloquial; c. 1900]
3. Change to a lower level or earlier time, as in We set back the thermostat whenever we go on vacation, or On October 10 we have to set back the clocks. [First half of 1600s] Set back the clock is also used figuratively to mean "return to an earlier era," as in He wished he could set back the clock to those carefree high-school days. Also see set forward.
See also: back, set
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

set back

v.
1. To construct something so that it is a certain distance away from the edge of some boundary. Used in the passive: All houses must be set back 100 feet from the lake. The second tier of the building is set back 10 feet.
2. To slow down the progress of something; hinder something: Bad weather set the project back two weeks. The recent attacks have set back the peace process.
3. To cost someone some amount of money: That coat set me back $1,000.
4. To adjust some instrument or device to an earlier reading: Last fall, I forgot to set back my clock. The dealership set the odometer back and tried to sell the car as new.
See also: back, set
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • set (someone or something) back
  • set someone back
  • get (all) set
  • get set
  • set (one's) hand to
  • set your hand to
  • set by
  • set (something) out
  • set out
  • set in train
References in periodicals archive
It is well set back from the road and has a good-sized, wellmaintained garden at the front and back.
SIX OF THE BEST: SOLIHULL
IMPRESSIVE The spacious family home stands in a commanding position with a corner plot set back from the road in Low Fell.
Spacious family home in good location
Fitting a case into the chamber is more important and that's why the .003" set back. A bolt-action rifle can get away with less, but nothing should ever be run that's not at the very least .001" back from fired dimension.
Savvy sizing: the case, that is
Expansive, Jet Mist paved terraces grace 8th floor residences where the building's set back design creates monumental outdoor entertainment and relaxation spaces.
New Meier masterpiece On Prospect Park
Set back from the street, overlooking a small, semi-formal garden, its short north-west end forms its main public face.
Tropical mission: new offices for the British Council in Lagos both respond to and challenge local conditions
Digging To Indochina is very highly recommended reading that will linger long in the mind after the book has been finished and set back upon the shelf.
Digging to Indochina
Do you not see that the middle of the country is now set back even further than it was before in the fight for equality?
Persons of the year?
Hallmarked verse that is a once implacably honest and deftly scripted with a memorable rhetoric, this is a body of work that will linger in the mind long after this slim, 64-page volume has been set back upon the shelf to be read again another day.
Voluntary Servitude
The 432-room resort is set back from the three-mile white sand beach, although sweeping views accent nearly every space.
Paradise in Punta Cana: greening the Dominican Republic. (Going Green)
The ARD may be set back in time only from within the assessment window.
Questions and answers from the American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators (AANAC). (AANAC's PPS Review)
Clive Woodward learnt little and the Romanians were set back light years.
James Whitaker Column: Clive Woodward
Brazilian manufacturers were set back by the devaluation of the real.
Mexico Edges Ahead
But in 1994, Franklin's newslette supported many of Entine's charges against the company and rebuked the Body Shop for its combative stance toward critics: "The Body Shop's bombastic tactics have set back any legitimate attempts by the company to change."
Socially responsible business brawl
By giving the cells a rest during that critical period, they say, a full-blown autoimmune reaction can be set back by as much as a year or more.
Beta-cell break benefits diabetics