Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SET'-OFF, n. [set and off.]

The act of admitting one claim to counterbalance another. In a set-off, the defendant acknowledges the justice of the plaintif's demand, but sets up a demand of his own to counterbalance it in whole or in part. The right of pleading a set-off depends on statute. – Blackstone. Note. In New England, offset is sometimes used for set-off. But offset has a different sense, and it is desirable that the practice should be uniform, wherever the English Language is spoken.