resolve

Determination; will power.

Noun

  1. Determination; will power.
    • It took all my resolve to go through with the surgery.
    • Stripped of all bravado, Cersei breaks, and shows the very scared, vulnerable woman who has kept her emotions at bay. “I don’t want to die,” she whimpers, “Not like this.” It’s all the more moving for coming from a...
    • Alan Pardew's current squad has been put together with a relatively low budget but the resolve and unity within the team is priceless. - 2011 October 1, Saj Chowdhury, “Wolverhampton 1 - 2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
  2. A determination to do something; a fixed decision.
    • And the having individually entertained four such resolves, without perceiving that once brought together, they all mutually expire; this, this ineffable folly, Pierre, brands thee in the forehead for an unaccountable...
    • His resolve to die is weakening as he grows accustomed to Sophie's absence, and all his attempts to master irresolution only augment it. - 1995, William Arctander O'Brien, Novalis, Signs of Revolution, page 56:
  3. An act of resolving something; resolution.
    • Still, my mother said she loved me and the conversation soon ended, without resolve; possibly, this is also a dialog which is only beginning, or rather continuing. - 1986, Daniel Garrett, “Creating Ourselves: An Open...
    • Some operations require data that, in turn, requires that lightweight components be resolved. In these cases, this option determines whether the user is prompted to approve the resolve or whether components are just...

Origin

From Middle English resolven, from Old French resolver, a learned borrowing of Latin resolvō (“loosen, thaw, melt, resolve”), equivalent to re- + solve. Piecewise doublet of re-solve.

Forms

resolves

Synonyms

fortitude inner strength resoluteness sticktoitiveness tenacity

Related

set of one's jaw

Verb Entry 2

  1. To find a solution to (a problem).
    • Exeter. Shall I call in Thambaſſadors my Liege? / King. Not yet my Couſin, til we be reſolude / Of ſome ſerious matters touching vs and France. - 1599 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Cronicle History of Henry...

    Synonyms: decipher upsolve work out absolve get to the bottom of iron out meliorate puzzle out ravel reason out resolve riddle sleuth solve tease out think out unpuzzle unravel unriddle unsolve Any from Thesaurus:untangle

  2. To reduce to simple or intelligible notions; to make clear or certain; to unravel; to explain.
    • to resolve a riddle
    • Resolve my doubt. - c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard,...
    • If such a dreamy touch should fall, ⁠O turn thee round, resolve the doubt, ⁠My guardian angel will speak out In that high place, and tell thee all. - 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XLIII”, in In Memoriam, London:...
  3. To make a firm decision to do something. To become determined to reach a certain goal or take a certain action.
    • I resolve to finish this work before I go home.
    • At length, one night, when the company by ſome accident broke up much ſooner than ordinary, ſo that the candles were not half burnt out, ſhe was not able to reſiſt the temptation, but reſolved to have them ſome way or...
  4. To determine or decide in purpose; to make ready in mind; to fix; to settle.
    • He was resolved by an unexpected event.
    • Gentlemen, importune me no farther, / For hovv I firmly am reſolu'd you knovv: / That is, not to beſtovv my yongeſt daughter, / Before I haue a husband for the elder: […] - c. 1590–1592 (date written), William...
  5. To come to an agreement or make peace; patch up relationship, settle differences, bury the hatchet.
    • After two weeks of bickering, they finally resolved their differences.
  6. To break down into constituent parts; to decompose; to disintegrate; to return to a simpler constitution or a primeval state.
    • The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.
    • O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! - c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies,...
    • And ye Immortal Souls, that once vvere Men, / And novv reſolv’d to Elements agen. - 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn]...
  7. To cause to perceive or understand; to acquaint; to inform; to convince; to assure; to make certain.
    • In health, good air, pleasure, riches, I am resolved it cannot be equalled by any region. - 1596, Walter Raleigh, The discovery of the large, rich, and beautiful Empire of Guiana, with a relation of the great and golden...
    • We must be resolved how the law can be pure and perspicuous, and yet throw a polluted skirt over these Eleusinian mysteries. - 1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas]...
    • Reſolve me Reaſon, vvhich of theſe is vvorſe, / VVant vvith a full, or vvith an empty purſe: […] - 1733 (indicated as 1732), [Alexander] Pope, Of the Use of Riches, an Epistle to the Right Honourable Allen Lord...
  8. To cause a chord to go from dissonance to consonance.
  9. To render visible or distinguishable the parts of something.
    • The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution,...
  10. To find the IP address of a hostname, or the entity referred to by a symbol in source code; to look up.
  11. To melt; to dissolve; to liquefy or soften (a solid).
    • With milke-white Hartes vpon an Iuorie ſled, / Thou ſhalt be drawen amidſt the froſen Pooles, / And ſcale the yſie mountaines lofty tops: / Which with thy beautie will be soone reſolu’d. - c. 1587–1588 (date written),...
  12. To melt; to dissolve; to become liquid.
    • When the blood stagnates in any part, it first coagulates, then resolves, and turns alkaline. - 1731, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different...

Forms

resolves resolving resolved

Derived

misresolve preresolve proresolving reresolve resolvability resolvable resolvase resolvend resolver self-resolving superresolve time-resolved unresolve

Verb alt of, alternative

  1. Alternative spelling of re-solve.

Forms

resolves resolving resolved