set sb off
informal— phrasal verb with set uk/set/us/set/verb present participle setting, past tense and past participle set
to cause someone to start doing something:
[ + -ing verb ] Every time I think about it, it sets me off laughing.
She's finally stopped crying - don't set her off again.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Starting and beginning
- be in the first flush of idiom
- become
- begin
- branch out
- break into sth
- export
- go ahead
- ground
- incipient
- initiator
- instate
- introduce
- kick
- kick-start
- strike
- touch sth off
- train
- trigger
- wade in
- weave
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