settles

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of settle.

   Sediment settles at the bottom of the tank once the water stops moving.

   The committee settles disputes between neighbors through formal mediation.

   Note

   Most uses of the verb behind this form turn on ending doubt or dispute: she settles a question, a firm settles a lawsuit, usually out of court, and a customer settles a bill, the colloquial end of the range. It takes an object or stands alone, since two sides can simply settle by agreeing. The same spelling is the plural of the bench, a separate word with its own history.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of settle.

   The antique shop displayed several carved settles along its back wall.

   Guests at the inn warmed themselves on the high-backed settles near the hearth.

   Note

   A furniture word that has outlived everyday speech. A settle could be a seat of any kind, and in particular a long bench with a high back and arms, often with a chest or storage space underneath. Both uses are now archaic, so the plural turns up mostly in descriptions of old interiors. An even older settle, now obsolete, meant a lowered step or platform, a place set lower than its surroundings.

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