settled

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of settle.

   The family settled in a small coastal town after years of moving.

   Once the noise died away, the children settled quietly into bed.

   Note

   One spelling covers two constructions. They settled the dispute is simple past, and the dispute was settled is passive. The passive does much of the work in the transactional meanings of settle: a lawsuit settled out of court by agreement, or an account settled, sometimes for less than was owed. In colloquial use settle can simply mean pay, so the bill is settled means the bill has been paid.

2. 2
   adjective

   Comfortable and at ease, especially following a period of upheaval or change.

   Like water that turns still and clear once the storm has passed.

   Now that the children were in school, the family felt settled at last.

   Years after the move, they appeared content and settled in their quiet town.

   Similarcomfortable, secure, stable, established, content

   Oppositeunsettled, restless, uneasy, rootless

   Note

   A participle that has become a true adjective, and its grammar shows it. It takes more and most (more settled, the most settled she had ever felt), and it follows verbs of state like feel, seem and appear. That is the test that separates it from the past form of settle: they had settled names an action, while they felt settled names a condition.

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