settling

Pluralsettlings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of settle.

   The dust was settling over the quiet valley by evening.

   Settling old debts gave her a real sense of relief.

   Note

   The -ing form does double duty. In a continuous tense it is a participle (they are settling the dispute), and at the head of a clause it is a gerund naming the act (settling out of court saved months). It keeps both of the verb's patterns: transitive, as in settling a bill, and intransitive, as in settling with the other side. It shares its spelling with the noun for the act itself, which takes articles and a plural.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of establishing oneself somewhere, colonizing a region, sinking and coming to rest, or adjusting something into place.

   The settling of pioneers along the river shaped the region's culture.

   Engineers expect some settling of the foundation during the first year.

   Similarsettlement, colonization, subsidence, sinking

3. 3
   nounusually plural

   The solid matter that sinks to the bottom of a liquid; dregs or sediment.

   The barrel of cider had a thick settling of dregs at its base.

   Pour the liquid off gently so the settling stays undisturbed at the bottom.

   Similarsediment, dregs, deposit, lees, residue

   Note

   Here the word names what is left behind once a liquid stands, and it is normally plural: the settlings of a cask, the settlings at the bottom of a jar. The singular does occur, but the plural is the usual form. The sense is the residue of the act of sinking to rest, and dregs and sediment are its nearest equivalents.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The reckoning of accounts and paying of what is due, including the payout of gambling winnings.

   Bookmakers handle the settling of every wager once results are confirmed.

   The weekly settling of accounts left the merchant with a small profit.

   Similarsettlement, payment, reckoning, payout

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