settle

Formssettles, settling, settled

Pluralsettles

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To bring a dispute or disagreement to a final conclusion.

   The mediator helped the two sides settle their long-running contract dispute.

   The committee settled the question of funding at its final meeting.

   Similarresolve, end, conclude, decide

   Note

   Two Old English verbs lie behind this sense and its neighbors. One, setlan, meant to seat or put to rest, from setl, "a seat". The other, sahtlian, meant to reconcile, calm or subside. Settling a quarrel draws on that second strand, which also feeds the calming senses. Dispose of comes close, but it lacks the note of reconciliation.

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To grow calm, quiet, or orderly, and stop being agitated.

   The protesters gradually settled after the speaker promised reforms.

   Wait for the room to settle before you start the lecture.

   Similarcalm, quiet, relax, subside

   Note

   Anything stirred up can settle by itself, including weather, a crowd or a temper. Shakespeare uses it of royal anger in The Winter's Tale: stay away "til the fury of his Highness settle." Sports writing gives it a modern turn, where a team that settles finds its composure. Stuart James writes in 2017 that Sevilla "were never allowed to settle."

3. 3
   verbintransitive

   To come to rest in a fixed position and stop moving.

   Snowflakes settle gently on the rooftops each winter.

   The sediment settled to the bottom of the jar overnight.

   Similarland, alight, sink, rest, descend

   Note

   Coming to rest usually takes a preposition saying where: a hawk settles on a branch, and travelers settle down at an inn. What comes to rest need not be solid. In Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, the wind "settled in the West for many dayes", and John Arbuthnot describes chyle changing color "until it settles in an intense red."

4. 4
   verbintransitive

   To make one's permanent home in a place; to establish a dwelling or colony there.

   Many immigrants settle in cities where they already have relatives.

   The pioneers settled along the river valley in the 1840s.

   Similarlive, reside, locate

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To make a person, the nerves, or troubled waters calm again after agitation.

   She spoke softly to settle the frightened horse.

   A few deep breaths settled his nerves before the interview.

   Similarcalm, soothe, steady, quiet, pacify

   Oppositeagitate, unsettle, disturb, upset

   Note

   The causative partner of "to become calm" is what one does to nerves, a child or rough water. In George Chapman's Homer (1614–1615), God settles "the huge whale-bearing lake", meaning the sea itself. In John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678), friends hope that sleep "might settle his brains". The object is whatever has been stirred up.

6. 6
   verbcolloquialtransitive

   To pay a bill or the amount that is owed.

   She offered to settle the dinner bill for everyone.

   They settled the outstanding invoice within a week.

   Similarpay, foot, cover, clear, square

7. 7
   verbintransitive

   To sink gradually to a lower level, as the foundation of a building does over time.

   Foundations settle over time, sometimes cracking the walls above them.

   The newly filled trench settled several inches during the winter.

   Similarsubside, sink, sag, drop, slump

   Oppositerise

   Note

   In building, it describes structures sinking as the ground beneath them gives way. A foundation settles, and Walls and Ceilings (Time-Life Books, 1980) warns that a tub may "settle at one corner, causing the rim to slope." Such settling is gradual and often uneven, which is why it cracks walls. Unlike sinking through liquid, it happens on solid ground.

8. 8
   verbintransitive

   To reach an agreement on matters in dispute, or to adjust differences or accounts.

   Rather than keep fighting, the families chose to settle amicably.

   The two firms settled after months of difficult negotiation.

   Similaragree, compromise

   Note

   Here the verb stands without an object, and the other party is introduced with with: a debtor settles with his creditors. The agreement reached may involve money or simply terms. By contrast, the "end a dispute" use takes the dispute itself as its object rather than naming the person on the other side.

9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To determine something conclusively; to fix or set a time, order, or other uncertain matter.

   The committee met to settle the question of leadership once and for all.

   A single coin toss settled which team would start.

   Similardecide, resolve, determine, fix, establish

   Oppositereopen

   Note

   Its object can be the doubtful matter or the person who doubts. A question, a succession or a date gets settled, and so do fears. In Jonathan Swift's The Publick Spirit of the Whigs (1714), a pamphlet will "settle the Wavering" and confirm the doubtful, steadying uncertain readers. Used of a question, it implies an answer nobody needs to reopen.

10. 10
    verbtransitive

    To place something into a fixed or stable position; to make it firm, steady, or established.

    Workers settle each beam carefully onto its supports.

    She settled the heavy pot squarely on the burner.

    Similarset, place, position, seat, rest

    Note

    A face can be settled as well as a beam. In the King James Bible of 1611, a man "settled his countenance stedfastly … until he was ashamed", holding a fixed and unwavering gaze. That is the core of this sense: making something stay put, whether a look, a load or an arrangement. Its closest synonyms are establish and fix.

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