different between holdoff vs setback

English

Etymology

hold +? off

Noun

holdoff (plural holdoffs)

1. A fixture or attachment intended to prevent direct contact between two objects.

2. A delay or forebearance.

Synonyms

• (delay): cunctation, hold-up; see also Thesaurus:delay

See also

• standoff

Anagrams

• offhold

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?tbæk/

Etymology

From the verb phrase set back.

Noun

setback (plural setbacks)

1. An obstacle, delay, disadvantage, blow (an adverse event which retards or prevents progress towards a desired outcome)

   After some initial setbacks, the expedition went safely on its way.

2. (US) The required distance between a structure and a road.
3. (architecture) A step-like recession in a wall.

   Setbacks were initially used for structural reasons, but now are often mandated by land use codes.

4. An offset to the temperature setting of a thermostat to cover a period when more or less heating is required than usual.
   • 1980, Popular Science (volume 217, number 4)

     Fuel savings from thermostat setbacks have long been accepted as fact, but little documentation existed to support it.

5. (possibly archaic) A backset; a countercurrent; an eddy.
6. (archaic) A backset; a check; a repulse; a relapse.

Translations

Anagrams

• backest, backets, backset