set great store by, to
set great store by someone or something
to have positive expectations for someone or something; to have high hopes for someone or something. I set great store by my computer and its ability to help me in my work. Bill sets great store by his expensive tools.
See also: by, great, set, store
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
set great store by, to
To value highly. This phrase uses store in the sense of something precious, a usage dating from Chaucer’s time but now obsolete except here. It has also been put as set little or no store by, meaning to value scarcely or not at all. Laurence Sterne used it in Sentimental Journey (1768), writing about a starling: “The bird had little or no store set by him.”
See also: great, set, store
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- be/have done with somebody/something
- be in line with (someone or something)
- better of
- (someone or something) promises well
- begin with
- begin with (someone or something)
- bird has flown, the
- beware of
- beware of (someone or something)
- be rough on (someone or something)