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# setback

«setback» in Mova's school dictionary: **Something that stops progress or makes things worse for a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a setback, setbacks)

### meaning for a pupil

Something that stops progress or makes things worse for a while; a problem that sets you back. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/setback/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In stories and sport, heroes face setbacks before they win. In PSHE, learning from setbacks builds resilience. In maths problems, a setback can mean a loss: «after a setback of 3 points». Phrases: suffer a setback, a minor setback, overcome setbacks.

### examples

- Losing the first match was a setback, but we still won the cup. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/setback/#x1)
- The rain was a setback for the builders. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/setback/#x2)
- Her injury was a big setback. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/setback/#x3)
- Don't give up after one setback. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/setback/#x4)
- The plan had a few setbacks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/setback/#x5)
- Every setback teaches you something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/setback/#x6)

### note

Countable; one word as a noun. Verb phrase: set back (two words): «The storm set us back a week.»

### In the corpora

- ["A setback" means a failure, made to sound like a small step back.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/33-failure-and-mistakes/6/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «setback» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/setback/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.