phrasal verb · neutral
set off
UK/sɛt ˈɒf/US/sɛt ˈɔːf/SET·off
1) to start a journey; 2) to cause something to start; 3) to trigger something (e.g. an alarm)
Examples
“We set off early to avoid traffic.”
“The new policy set off protests across the city.”
“A faulty wire set off the alarm last night.”
Band 8 sentence
“The announcement set off a wave of criticism among academics, prompting a swift revision of the guidelines.”
Collocations
- set off early / set off a chain of events / set off an alarm
Word family
Common mistakes
set out the alarm→set off the alarm
set off to Hanoi yesterday (as present)→set off for Hanoi yesterday
Say it for a higher band
5go→6start→7+set off
Synonyms
depart
trigger
Easily confused
set off vs set out
“They set off at dawn, determined to set out on the long journey ahead.”
set off vs trigger
“The incident set off a debate that eventually triggered policy changes.”
Related words
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