set in motion
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To start something happening or to put a plan into action
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
bắt đầu một thứ gì đó xảy ra hoặc đưa kế hoạch vào hoạt động
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to put something moving
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The new policy set in motion a series of changes
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “set in motion” mean?
To start something happening or to put a plan into action Literally: to put something moving
Is “set in motion” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.