1. Home
2. Idioms
3. set the scene for

set the scene for

---

---

set the scene for something

if you set the scene for something, you make it possible or likely to happen The recent resignation of two government ministers has set the scene for a pre-election crisis.

See also: scene, set

set the scene for

Also, set the stage for. Provide the underlying basis or background for, make likely or inevitable, as in Their fights about money set the scene for a divorce, or The comptroller's assessment of the firm's finances set the stage for a successful bond issue . These expressions allude to arranging a play's actors and properties on a theatrical stage. The first term dates from the late 1700s, the variant from the late 1800s.

See also: scene, set