Drive
Set off
Set off verb - To cause to function.
Usage example: set off a bomb
Both terms in one sentence
- This is such a recognized trope point that someone with no idea how to drive will set off windscreen wipers in vehicles which have no justifiable reason for having them (such as spaceships or submarines).
Source: Wiper Start - Oh, and you're also not allowed to use the instantaneous Khador Drive, as it would set off the cargo, meaning you have to stick to the good old-fashioned gates.
Source: Nitro Express - To drive this point home, they run into a former friend of theirs who worked at Lehman Brothers and lost everything after that company collapsed (the incident that set off the economic crisis), and now works as a male prostitute.
Source: Unintentional Period Piece
Cite this Source
Set off and Drive. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/drive/set_off
Drive & Set off. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/drive/set_off>.
Set off or Drive. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/drive/set_off.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "drive" and "set off" have occurred on timeline