set at defiance

English

Verb

set at defiance (third-person singular simple present sets at defiance, present participle setting at defiance, simple past and past participle set at defiance)

  1. To defy, flout, violate shamelessly.
    • 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 8, page 45:
      In the town of Angla […] no person may appear on horseback in the streets […] . In former days even Europeans were forbidden to ride on horseback in Angla; and missionaries who attempted to set the local prejudice at defiance have been pelted with sticks and dirt by the outraged natives.
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