set forward

• set forwards

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

1. To put or carry (something) forward. [from 15th c.]
2. To help or assist (a person, project etc.); to promote. [from 16th c.]
3. To propose, suggest (an opinion, theory etc.). [from 16th c.]
   • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan:

     God endued them with a mind conformable, and subordinate to that of Moses, that they might Prophecy, that is to say, speak to the people in Gods name, in such manner, as to set forward (as Ministers of Moses, and by his authority) such doctrine as was agreeable to Moses his doctrine.

4. (intransitive) To set off, set forth; to start. [from 16th c.]
   • 1790, Jane Austen, “Love and Freindship”, in Juvenilia:

     We promised that we would, and he set forwards on his Journey to Town.

• set forth