settle

• sit on a settle of joy with angels - c. 1348, Richard Rolle, The Form of Living:
• If hunger drive the Pagans from their dens, One, 'gainst a settle breaketh both his shins; - 1608, Joshua Sylvester, “The Law”, in Du Bartas his divine weekes and workes:
• "The gloom of those failing embers," exclaimed Francesca, "Has infected us both!" and, rising from the low settle, she lighted the lamp, and flung some smaller wood on the hearth, and a cheerful blaze kindled at once. -...

• Beneath its shade, the place of state, / On oaken settle Marmion sate, / And viewed around the blazing hearth. - 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Third. The Hostel, or Inn.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field,...
• Let us return now to the little girl we left feigning to sleep soundly upon a settle in the kitchen. - 1880, Ellen Murray Beam, English translation of Captain Fracasse by Théophile Gautier
• Nineteen persons were gathered here. Of these, […] John Pitcher, a neighbouring dairyman, the shepherd's father-in-law, lolled in the settle; […] - 1883 March, Thomas Hardy, “The Three Strangers”, in Wessex Tales:...

• And from the bottom upon the ground, even to the lower settle, shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 43:14:

• His fears were settled
• She hopes to settle any questions about the plans.
• The question of the succession to a throne needs to be settled.

Synonyms: seal

1. (transitive) To determine (something which was exposed to doubt or question); to resolve conclusively; to set or fix (a time, an order of succession, etc).

2. (transitive) To conclude, to cause (a dispute) to finish.

   • to settle a quarrel

   Synonyms: dispose dispose of

3. (transitive) To conclude, to cause (a dispute) to finish.

   (transitive) In particular, to terminate (a lawsuit), usually out of court, by agreement of all parties.

   Synonyms: dispose dispose of

4. (transitive) To close, liquidate or balance (an account) by payment, sometimes of less than is owed or due.

   • The coffee was only surface wet and looked worse than it actually was and as he returned to the Reception Desk to settle his account and give back his room key, he was met again by the young man who was still wearing...

   Synonyms: discharge

5. (transitive, colloquial) To pay (a bill or debt).

6. (intransitive) To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement on matters in dispute.

   • He has settled with his creditors.

7. (intransitive) To conclude a lawsuit by agreement of the parties rather than a decision of a court.

   • Of course, certainty is a value in all systems of conflict of laws—including those of the United States. Certainty for litigants decreases litigation and transaction costs and increases the chances that cases will...

• to settle my affairs
• to settle her estate

1. (transitive) To put into (proper) place; to make sit or lie properly.

   • The curate settled his collar, coughed, and, making an effort, knocked. - 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 3:
   • She twisted out from under the claim of his palm to settle her feet on the floor. - 2012, Nancy Gideon, Seeker of Shadows, →ISBN:
   • Pausing only to settle his cloak and set his Regent's circlet on his hair, he strode to the rail and waited. - 2002, Tom Deitz, Warautumn, →ISBN, page 53:

2. (transitive) To cause to no longer be in a disturbed, confused or stormy; to quiet; to calm (nerves, waters, a boisterous or rebellious child, etc).

   • God settled then the huge whale-bearing lake, / And Tenedos we reach'd; [...] - 1614–1615, Homer, “The Third Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field...
   • [I]t drawing towards night, and they hoping that ſleep might ſettle his brains, with all haſt they got him to bed; [...] - 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […],...

3. (UK, dialectal) To silence, especially by force.

4. To kill.

   • I poured a charge of powder over the nipple so as not tu miss goin' off if possible. Click! went the match,—up jumped the flock, or tried tu. As they bunched up, Peggy blazed intu 'em, settlin’ how many I didn't know, …...

5. (transitive) To bring or restore (ground, roads, etc) to a smooth, dry, or passable condition.

   • clear weather settles the roads

• The weather settled.
• Wait until the crowd settles before speaking.
• [T]il the fury of his Highneſſe ſettle / Come not before him. - c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio),...

1. (intransitive) To become firm, dry, and hard, like the ground after the effects of rain or frost have disappeared.

   • The roads settled late in the spring.

• And he settled his countenance stedfastly [upon him], until he was ashamed. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Kings 8:11:

1. (transitive) To place in(to) a fixed or permanent condition or position or on(to) a permanent basis; to make firm, steady, or stable; to establish or fix.

2. (transitive) In particular, to establish in life; to fix in business, in a home, etc.

   • Now thirteen Years of Age were ſwiftly run, / When the fond Father thought the time drew on / Of ſettling in the World his only Son. - 1717, John Dryden, “Book IX. [The Fable of Iphis and Ianthe.]”, in Ovid’s...
   • But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Chronicles 17:14:

3. (transitive) In particular, to establish in life; to fix in business, in a home, etc.

   (transitive, US, obsolete) In particular, to establish in pastoral office; to ordain or install as pastor or rector of a church, society, or parish.

   • to settle a minister

4. (transitive, law) To formally, legally secure (an annuity, property, title, etc) on (a person).

5. (intransitive, obsolete) To make a jointure for a spouse.

   • He sighs with most success that settles well. - 1712, Samuel Garth, Epilogue to Cato, a Tragedy, by Joseph Addison

6. (intransitive) To become married, or a householder.

   • As People marry now, and ſettle; / Fierce Love abates his uſual Mettle: [...] - 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber...

7. (intransitive, with "in") To be established in a profession or in employment.

   • He is settled in the profession of law at Rochester, New York. - 1825, William Buell Sprague, An Historical Discourse Delivered at West Springfield:
   • Following his avowed aim to settle in his profession of medicine, Sloane arranged to call on Dr Thomas Sydenham, the foremost physician of his day in London, known as 'the English Hippocrates'. - 1994, Arthur MacGregor,...
   • The likely explanation for this is the fact that between the two groups one is now settling in the profession while the older group is preparing to retire and are no longer keen to gain new skills. - 2016, J. K. Ng’eno,...

8. (intransitive, usually with "down", "in", "on" or another preposition) To become stationary or fixed; to come to rest.

   • But then the Wind came about, and ſetled in the West for many dayes, ſo as we could make little or no way, and were ſometimes in purpoſe to turne backe. - 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “New Atlantis. A...
   • Chyle [...] runs through all the intermediate colors until it settles in an intense red. - 1735, John Arbuthnot, An essay concerning the nature of aliments:
   • They settled down at an inn.

• the Saxons who settled in Britain
• The British could identify very few ‘village elders’ in the colony. The reason was that the majority of the Chinese in Hong Kong were male immigrants with no village to which to attach themselves. They tended to settle...

1. (transitive, in particular) To colonize (an area); to migrate to (a land, territory, site, etc).

   • the French first settled Canada
   • the Puritans settled New England
   • Plymouth was settled in 1620.

• Rome began to settle displaced or disenfranchised citizens, veterans, and allies in colonies beyond Italy. - 2001, Eric Nelson, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Roman Empire, →ISBN:

• to settle coffee, or the grounds of coffee

1. (transitive) To clear or purify (a liquid) of dregs and impurities by causing them to sink.

2. (transitive) To cause to sink down or to be deposited (dregs, sediment, etc).

   • to settle the sediment out of the water

3. (transitive) To render compact or solid; to cause to become packed down.

   • to settle the chips in the potato chip bag by shaking it

4. (intransitive) To sink to the bottom of a body of liquid, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reservoir.

5. (intransitive) To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, for example the foundation of a house, etc.

   • Sometimes a tub will settle at one corner, causing the rim to slope. - 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 38:

6. (intransitive) To become compact due to sinking.

   • The chips in the bag of potato chips settled during shipping.

7. (intransitive) To become clear due to the sinking of sediment. (Used especially of liquid. Also used figuratively.)

   • wine settles by standing

• Some mares do not show signs of being in heat even when tried ("teased") regularly with a stallion, but they often can be settled either by natural or artificial service, provided the approximate time of ovulation is...
• During March, 1926, two more mares were bred to him and on February 14, 1927 one of them foaled a perfectly formed bay stud foal. It is not known whether or not the other mare settled for she was never returned for...
• This older mare created many, many problems for us in terms of trying to get the mare to settle. She came to us in January, and her record shows fairly consistent heats, but she had numerous problems which will be...