Densely crowded together; made up of things that are densely crowded together; closely planted.
a thickset wood
a thickset hedge
1581, Thomas Newton (translator), Thebais in Seneca His Tenne Tragedies, London: Thomas Marsh, Act 2, p. 48,
[…] let me be allowde
To lurke behinde this Craggy Rocke, or els my selfe to hyde
On backside of some thickset hedge:
1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, London: M. Lownes et al., Song 1, p. 11,
[…] Corineus ran
With slaughter through the thick-set squadrons of the foes;
Densely covered (with something).
a gully thickset with brambles
1583, John Foxe, Acts and Monuments, London: John Day, Book 4, “The tragicall historie of Gregorie the vij. otherwise named Hildebrand,” p. 177,
[…] in a vessell being thick set with sharpe nayles, he tormented him to the poynt of death:
noun
(countable, obsolete) A thick hedge.
1858, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (as Pisistratus Caxton), What Will He Do with It? Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, Volume 4, Book 11, Chapter 7, p. 294,
Had Darrell been placed amidst the circumstances that make happy the homes of earnest men, Darrell would have been mirthful; had Waife been placed amongst the circumstances that concentrate talent, and hedge round life with trained thicksets and belting laurels, Waife would have been grave.
(uncountable, historical) A stout, twilled cotton cloth; a fustian corduroy, or velveteen.
1812, George Crabbe, Tales, London: J. Hatchard, Tale 4, “Procrastination,” p. 73,
When he, with thickset coat of Badge-man’s blue,
Moves near her shaded silk of changeful hue;
1829, anonymous contributor, “A Day at Fontainebleau.—The Royal Hunt,” The Monthly Magazine, New Series, Volume 7, No. 37, January 1829, p. 12,
His breeches were of the homeliest thickset;
(countable, historical) A piece of clothing made from this fabric.