set at

set at idiom
Also, set upon. Attack or assail, as in The dog set at the postman, or The hyenas set upon the wounded lion. The first term dates from the early 1400s, the variant from the late 1300s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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