set the stage
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To prepare or create a situation for something to happen
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
chuẩn bị hoặc tạo ra tình huống cho điều gì xảy ra
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to arrange a physical stage
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company's financial troubles set the stage for a takeover
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 the stage” mean?
To prepare or create a situation for something to happen Literally: to arrange a physical stage
Is “set the stage” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.