How to Use set off in a Sentence

set off

verb

• The plan has set off a firestorm of debate and protests.
  — Anthony Trotter, ABC News, 25 Sep. 2022
• The suspect fled the scene and set off a police search.
  — Fox News, 24 Dec. 2021
• The danger, Bivens said, is that the Fed has set off a runaway train.
  — Irina Ivanova, CBS News, 30 Sep. 2022
• The success of these drugs has set off a boom in research.
  — Emma Court, Fortune Well, 31 Jan. 2024
• And all of this is setting off alarm bells among some tourism groups.
  — Gustavo Valdes, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024
• The boat's crew swabbed the deck clean and set off only slightly delayed for the 3 p.m. tour.
  — Angela Rozas and Brett McNeil, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2022
• Some built rafts and set off over the horizon for Tahiti.
  — Longreads, 19 Jan. 2022
• The area is set off by a 14-by-12-foot vintage Persian rug.
  — Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2022
• The trio sets off on a mission for Aang to learn all four elements and help save the world.
  — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2024
• The video set off a sales frenzy, one that Leahy doesn’t see slowing down.
  — James Manso, WWD, 25 Sep. 2024
• For most people, cold hands shouldn’t set off alarm bells.
  — Caroline C. Boyle, USA TODAY, 17 Aug. 2024
• The noise came from a firework set off by a group of juveniles.
  — Graydon Megan, chicagotribune.com, 21 Mar. 2022
• The first trip of the day, which hauled 40 paying passengers, set off at 12 miles an hour.
  — Baltimore Sun, 10 Sep. 2022
• The rally that set off the latest crisis took place in the dusty western oil town of Zhanaozen.
  — Staff Writer, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Jan. 2022
• But the officials missed the deadline, setting off the rest of the delays.
  — Jaden Edison, Hartford Courant, 13 Jan. 2024
• Last year’s war in Gaza was set off in part by similar scenes.
  — New York Times, 21 Apr. 2022
• Cole was used to getting calls from reporters, but this one set off alarms.
  — AZCentral.com, 20 May 2022
• His memoir, The Thrill of the Chase, set off a nationwide treasure hunt.
  — Popular Mechanics, 10 Mar. 2023
• And, in the midst of the current drought, many cities prohibit them or restrict where they can be set off.
  — Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 July 2022
• That set off years of back-and-forth between TikTok and the U.S. government.
  — Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
• Taylor was 26, and her death set off protests that lasted for months in Louisville and other cities.
  — Andrew Wolfson, The Courier-Journal, 23 Aug. 2022
• Once again, Talking Heads are setting off dance parties around the world.
  — Rob Tannenbaum, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2023
• Ralph DeFalco of Annapolis brought his young children to the ocean at 2:45 a.m. to watch the boats set off.
  — Hayes Gardner, Baltimore Sun, 11 Aug. 2023
• To set off the look, the actress carried a hot pink handbag and sparkly retro cell phone.
  — Genevieve Cepeda, Peoplemag, 28 Nov. 2023
• On launch day, the students watched Riptides set off on Facebook Live.
  — Sara Smart, CNN, 15 Feb. 2022
• On Wall Street, that set off speculation that a merger might be in the works.
  — Aaron Pressman, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Jan. 2023
• This fact, more than anything else about the study, set off my BS detector.
  — Marina Bolotnikova, Vox, 19 Dec. 2024
• Deng was still in charge when the next prominent death set off a series of events that resonate to this day.
  — Isabel Hilton, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2022
• The thinning patch had grown larger, and increased itching and soreness in that area set off alarm bells for her.
  — Sierra Leone Starks, Allure, 24 June 2025
• Pulled along by Valérie like a recalcitrant puppy, Richard sets off on a quest to find the missing man, who may have ties to the Sicilian Mafia.
  — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 25 June 2025