set vs shoehorn

set

verb
  • To become fixed or rigid; to be fastened. 

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

  • 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 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). 

shoehorn

verb
  • To force (something) into (a tight space); to squeeze (something) into (a schedule, etc); to exert great effort to insert or include (something); to include (something) despite potent reasons not to. 

  • To use a shoehorn. 

  • To force some current event into alignment with some (usually unconnected) agenda, especially when it is fallacious. 

noun
  • A smooth tool that assists in putting the foot into a shoe, by sliding the heel in after the toe is in place. This reduces discomfort and damage to the back of the shoe. By slipping it into the back of the shoe behind the heel, the user prevents the heel from squashing down the back of the shoe and causing difficulty; instead the heel slides down the smooth shoehorn, which then comes out easily once the foot is in place. 

  • Anything by which a transaction is facilitated; a medium. 

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