pick up vs set

pick up

verb
  • To mark, to defend against an opposition player by following them closely. 

  • To acquire (something) accidentally; to catch (a disease). 

  • To collect and detain (a suspect). 

  • To lift; to grasp and raise. 

  • To clean up; to return to an organized state. 

  • To point out the behaviour, habits, or actions of (a person) in a critical manner; used with on. 

  • To meet and seduce somebody for romantic purposes, especially in a social situation. 

  • To receive calls; to function correctly. 

  • To record; to notch up. 

  • To learn, to grasp; to begin to understand; to realize. 

  • To promote somebody who was previously passed over. 

  • To collect an object, especially in passing. 

  • To answer a telephone. 

  • To take control (physically) of something. 

  • To behave in a manner that results in a foul. 

  • To restart or resume. 

  • To receive (a radio signal or the like). 

  • To notice, detect or discern; to pick up on 

  • To improve, increase, or speed up. 

  • To reduce the despondency of. 

  • To pay for. 

  • To obtain and publish a story, news item, etc. 

  • To collect a passenger. 

set

verb
  • To direct (the ball) to a teammate for an attack. 

  • To devise and assign (work) to. 

  • To have a certain direction of motion; to flow; to move on; to tend. 

  • To arrange with dishes and cutlery, to set the table. 

  • To place or fix in a setting. 

  • To extend and bring into position; to spread. 

  • To place plants or shoots in the ground; to plant. 

  • To prepare (a stage or film set). 

  • To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure. 

  • To defeat a contract. 

  • To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened. 

  • To put (something) down, to rest. 

  • To produce after pollination. 

  • To render stiff or solid; especially, to convert into curd; to curdle. 

  • To acknowledge a dancing partner by facing him or her and moving first to one side and then to the other, while she or he does the opposite. 

  • To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote. 

  • To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state. 

  • To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare. 

  • To punch (a nail) into wood so that its head is below the surface. 

  • To hunt game with the aid of a setter. 

  • To sit (be in a seated position). 

  • To arrange (type). 

  • To be fixed for growth; to strike root; to begin to germinate or form. 

  • To introduce or describe. 

  • To solidify. 

  • To rest or lie somewhere, on something, etc.; to occupy a certain place. 

  • To apply oneself; to undertake earnestly. 

  • Of a heavenly body, to disappear below the horizon of a planet, etc, as the latter rotates. 

  • Of a dog, to indicate the position of game. 

  • To fit (someone) up in a situation. 

  • To put in a specified condition or state; to cause to be. 

  • To adjust. 

  • To compile, to make (a puzzle or challenge). 

  • To suit; to become. 

  • To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign. 

  • To determine or settle. 

  • To fit music to words. 

  • To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there. 

  • To start (a fire). 

  • To divide a class group in a subject according to ability 

  • To locate (a play, etc.); to assign a backdrop to, geographically or temporally. 

  • To attach or affix (something) to something else, or in or upon a certain place. 

noun
  • A punch for setting nails in wood. 

  • The full number of eggs set under a hen. 

  • The initial or basic formation of dancers. 

  • A device for receiving broadcast radio waves (or, more recently, broadcast data); a radio or television. 

  • A young oyster when first attached. 

  • The act of directing the ball to a teammate for an attack. 

  • The setting of the sun or other luminary; (by extension) the close of the day. 

  • The scenery for a film or play. 

  • Set theory. 

  • the general locations and area where a movie’s, a film’s, or a video’s scenery is arranged to be filmed also including places for actors, assorted crew, director, producers which are typically not filmed. 

  • A complete series of games, forming part of a match. 

  • A group of repetitions of a single exercise performed one after the other without rest. 

  • The amount the teeth of a saw protrude to the side in order to create the kerf. 

  • A rudimentary fruit. 

  • An object made up of several parts. 

  • General movement; direction; drift; tendency. 

  • A piece placed temporarily upon the head of a pile when the latter cannot otherwise be reached by the weight, or hammer. 

  • The camber of a curved roofing tile. 

  • A drum kit, a drum set. 

  • A class group in a subject where pupils are divided by ability. 

  • A bias of mind; an attitude or pattern of behaviour. 

  • A collection of zero or more objects, possibly infinite in size, and disregarding any order or repetition of the objects which may be contained within it. 

  • A musical performance by a band, disc jockey, etc., consisting of several musical pieces. 

  • Three of a kind, especially if two cards are in one's hand and the third is on the board. Compare trips (“three of a kind, especially with two cards on the board and one in one's hand”). 

  • A young plant fit for setting out; a slip; shoot. 

  • A small tuber or bulb used instead of seed, particularly onion sets and potato sets. 

  • Collectively, the crop of young oysters in any locality. 

  • A series or group of something. (Note the similar meaning in Etymology 4, Noun) 

  • A group of people, usually meeting socially. 

  • The manner, state, or quality of setting or fitting; fit. 

  • The pattern of a tartan, etc. 

  • A collection of various objects for a particular purpose. 

  • A permanent change of shape caused by excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc. 

  • A matching collection of similar things. (Note the similar meaning in Etymology 2, Noun.) 

  • A complete series of points, forming part of a match. 

adj
  • Fixed in one’s opinion. 

  • Fixed in a certain style. 

  • Ready, prepared. 

  • Rigid, solidified. 

  • Prearranged. 

  • Fixed in position. 

  • Intent, determined (to do something). 

How often have the words pick up and set occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )