Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To end or resolve (a dispute, for example) by making a decision or coming to an agreement. synonym: decide.
- intransitive verb To resolve (a lawsuit or dispute) by mutual agreement of the parties rather than by court decision.
- intransitive verb To make the determinations and distributions of (a trust).
- intransitive verb To make compensation for (a claim).
- intransitive verb To pay (a debt).
- intransitive verb To put into order; arrange as desired.
- intransitive verb To place or arrange in a desired position.
- intransitive verb To agree to or fix in advance.
- intransitive verb To establish as a resident or residents.
- intransitive verb To migrate to and establish residence in; colonize.
- intransitive verb To establish in a residence, business, or profession.
- intransitive verb To restore calmness or comfort to.
- intransitive verb To cause to sink, become compact, or come to rest.
- intransitive verb To cause (a liquid) to become clear by forming a sediment.
- intransitive verb To discontinue moving and come to rest in one place.
- intransitive verb To move downward; sink or descend, especially gradually.
- intransitive verb To become clear by the sinking of suspended particles. Used of liquids.
- intransitive verb To be separated from a solution or mixture as a sediment.
- intransitive verb To become compact by sinking, as sediment when stirred up.
- intransitive verb To establish one's residence.
- intransitive verb To become established or localized.
- intransitive verb To reach a decision; decide.
- intransitive verb To come to an agreement, especially to resolve a lawsuit out of court.
- intransitive verb To provide compensation for a claim.
- intransitive verb To pay a debt.
- noun A long wooden bench with a high back, often including storage space beneath the seat.
- idiom (settle (one's) stomach) To relieve one's indigestion or nausea.
- idiom (settle (someone's) hash) To silence or subdue.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A seat; a bench; a ledge.
- noun Specifically, a seat longer than a chair; a bench with a high back and arms, made to accommodate two or more persons.
- noun A seat fixed or placed at the foot of a bedstead.
- noun A part of a platform lower than another part.
- noun One of the successive platforms or stages leading up from the floor to the great altar of the Jewish Temple.
- To reconcile.
- To determine: decide, as something in doubt or debate; bring to a conclusion; con clude: confirm; free from uncertainty or wavering: as, to
settle a dispute; to settle a vexatious question; to settle one's mind. - To fix: appoint; set, as a date or day.
- To set in order; regulate; dispose of.
- To reduce to order or good behavior; give a quietus to: as, he was inclined to be insolent, but I soon settled him.
- To liquidate: balance; pay: as, to
settle an account, claim, or score.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word settle.
Examples
-
Ef we gwine settle, why, less _settle_, thass all I say! "
The Girl at the Halfway House A Story of the Plains Emerson Hough 1890
-
Ben let the name settle in his massive head somewhere.
A Lincoln Rhyme eBook Boxed Set Jeffery Deaver 2001
-
I hate the word settle, but you need to be practical.
-
I hate the word settle, but you need to be practical.
-
I hate the word settle, but you need to be practical.
The Seattle Times 2011
-
I hate the word settle, but you need to be practical.
The Seattle Times 2011
-
And if any, say, substitute teachers listening in settle for such houses, shame on them.
-
One wonders again: How did John McCain settle on Palin as a running mate? g_crush
-
Perhaps the first thing to settle is whether or not there is a god who created earth and all life, or are we here by accidental meaningless evolutionary processes.
-
Mitchell, on the other hand, gives us too much story here for our minds not to fall in -- settle in -- with the order of the narrative.
qms commented on the word settle
settle: v., t. To impregnate, as used in animal husbandry.
"Reproductive Management of the Ewe Flock and the Ram," Purdue University agricultural extension.
From the preceding example it is not entirely clear whether the conjugal act must bear fruit for the verb "to settle" to be correctly employed. Such a limitation is conceivable but is not an impregnable assumption.
Is the term also employed in the breeding of livestock other than sheep?
March 8, 2015
qms commented on the word settle
See also tup.
March 8, 2015
qms commented on the word settle
I suppose an “unthrifty” ram has spent his days woolgathering.
March 8, 2015