Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An onslaught; an assault.
- n. A beginning; a start: the onset of a cold.
- n. Linguistics The part of a syllable that precedes the nucleus. In the word nucleus (no͞oˈklē-əs), the onset of the first syllable is (n), the onset of the second syllable is (kl), and the last syllable has no onset.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A rushing or setting upon; attack; assault; especially, the assault of an army or body of troops upon an enemy or a fort, or the order for such an assault.
- n. Start; beginning; initial step or stage; outset.
- n. An attack of any kind: as, the impetuous onset of grief.
- n. Something set on or added by way of ornament. Synonyms Attack, Charge, Onset, Assault, Onslaught. Attack is the general word; the rest are arranged according to the degree of violence implied. Charge is a military word: as, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” Onset generally applies to a collective movement; assault and onslaught, may indicate the act of many or of one. An onslaught is rough and sudden, without method or persistence.
- To assault; begin.
Wiktionary
- n. A rushing or setting upon; an attack; an assault; a storming; especially, the assault of an army.
- n. medicine The initial phase of a disease or condition, in which symptoms first become apparent.
- n. phonology The initial portion of a syllable, preceding the syllable nucleus.
- n. acoustics The beginning of a musical note or other sound, in which the amplitude rises from zero to an initial peak.
- n. obsolete A setting about; a beginning.
- n. obsolete Anything set on, or added, as an ornament or as a useful appendage.
- v. obsolete To assault; to set upon.
- v. obsolete To set about; to begin.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A rushing or setting upon; an attack; an assault; a storming; especially, the assault of an army.
- n. A setting about; a beginning; -- used especially of diseases or pathological symptoms.
- n. obsolete Anything set on, or added, as an ornament or as a useful appendage.
- v. obsolete To assault; to set upon.
- v. obsolete To set about; to begin.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the beginning or early stages
- n. (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons)
Etymologies
- From on- + set. Compare Old English onsettan ("to impose; oppress, bear down"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“This is facilitated by a standardized definition of possible yellow fever cases, such as acute fever followed by jaundice within two weeks of onset of symptoms with bleeding symptoms or with death within three weeks of onset.”
“The delay in onset of methemoglobinemia in this case, which has been reported only to a limited extent,10 is noteworthy and suggests that a prolonged observation period may be necessary.”
“Recognizing that this could be another chronic pain onset, I wanted WCB to cover therapy for a couple of weeks.”
“The homogenous sand bed represents the first long term onset of Navajo Sandstone in the area.”
“Premier Michael Misick has called on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and a list of international agencies to intervene in the Turks and Caicos Islands to stop what he calls the onset of "modern-day colonialism" in this British-administered territory.”
“I wonder if today’s rain onset means that the weather has finally decided summer is over?”
“The accelerating expansion of the universe that we currently observe, is identified as the onset of inflation.”
“It's hard enough to call the onset of the recession correctly and arrange the spending so that it happens at precisely the right moment.”
The Wall Street Journal: Stimulus Optimists vs. Economic Reality
“The right wing beneficiaries of whoring in Iraq will call the onset of hearings a "witch hunt" or retribution.”
Rick Jacobs: Pelosi to America: Truman Commission Will Find Waste, Fraud and Abuse
“Chad Crowe Given a set of assumptions, forecasting the peak-oil-point -- defined as the onset of global production decline -- is a relatively trivial problem.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘onset’.
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Thresholds
we are all just passing through.
(boundaries, portals and liminal spaces/times)cockcrow, interface, thin line, portal, postern, littoral, portico, porch, stoop, strand, liminal, limen and 304 more...
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Unfamiliar Words
dank, refrain, hostage, frigid, warden, atrocious, squirm, kinship, riot, counterfeit, stamped, scaffolding and 59 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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dickinsonian
psalteries, enamoring, estates, whim, calyx, hoisted, nought, pentateuchal, retina, obviated, revelation, stalactite and 193 more...
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Is it morning yet?
coterie, lexeme, counterbalance, forthright, pigtail, ponytail, french-braid, barrette, listless, counsel, sitting duck, dead duck and 268 more...
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Like
All adjectives that praise.. complement
sift, dog ear, uber, alpha male, audacious, musing, marvel, biopic, onset
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From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
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Words to remember
adventive, affectation, ambiguous, anachronism, anesis, antithetic, apostasy, attenuate, authenticity, autodidact, -fic, bandolier and 146 more...
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donatas's Words
downwelling, shortchange, serendipity, detrimental, conspicuous, prank, accrual, precipitously, fecundity, onset, wallow, scum and 31 more...
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GRE 3500 O
oblivion, oblivious, obstetrician, obstinate, obstreperous, outlandish, outmoded, obtrude, obtuse, obviate, odious, odorous and 52 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for onset.
jwjarvis The outset is when something starts fully formed: This project was doomed from the outset....I promised myself I would work hard from the very outset.
Onset is something forming: The onset of the disease is slow and painful....I fear the onset of war....The war will be vicious from the outset.
In terms of usage, it seems onset can be subject or object, whereas outset is always (or at least commonly) prepositional 'from the outset', 'at the outset'. Sep 25, 2010