set out to do

set out to (do something)

To begin to undertake a task; to attempt or intend to do something. Framed for murder and wanted by police, the lone detective set out to clear her name. We set out to create the most elegant and user-friendly smartphone ever made, and I think we did it.
See also: out, set
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

set out to do something

to begin to do something; to intend to do something. Jill set out to weed the garden, but pulled up a few valuable plants in the process. I set out to repair the door, not rebuild the whole porch.
See also: out, set
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • set out to (do something)
  • set (someone or something) to work (on something)
  • set about
  • set about (doing something)
  • set about doing
  • a whack at (something)
  • give (someone) the word
  • give the word
  • put (one's) hand to (something)
  • have (one's) heart in (something)
References in periodicals archive
Not what he set out to do. But his example of vigilant citizenship and the all-star cast of witnesses convened at his behest in 1983 remain on the record--jewels in his heavenly crown and facts still to be reckoned with.
Borowski: a Canadian Paradox