Word: settle Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From a merger of two verbs: * Middle English setlen, from Old English setlan (“to settle, seat, put to rest”), from Old English setl (“seat”) (compare Dutch zetelen (“to be established, settle”)) and * Middle English sahtlen, seihtlen (“to reconcile, calm, subside”), from Old English sahtlian, ġesehtlian (“to reconcile”), from Old English saht, seht (“settlement, agreement, reconciliation, peace”) (see saught, -le). German siedeln (“to settle”) is related to the former of the two verbs, but is not an immediate cognate of either of them. Pronunciation: /ˈsɛ.təl/, [ˈsɛtəɫ], [ˈsɛtɫ̩], /ˈsɛtəl/ 1. To conclude or resolve (something): Labels: transitive Example: His fears were settled Example: She hopes to settle any questions about the plans. 2. To conclude or resolve (something): Labels: transitive Example: to settle a quarrel 3. To conclude or resolve (something): Labels: transitive 4. To conclude or resolve (something): Labels: transitive Example: 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 his rucksack. 5. To conclude or resolve (something): Labels: colloquial, transitive 6. To conclude or resolve (something): Labels: intransitive Example: He has settled with his creditors. 7. To conclude or resolve (something): Labels: intransitive Example: 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 settle. 8. To place or arrange in(to) a desired (especially: calm) state, or make final disposition of (something). Labels: transitive Example: to settle my affairs Example: to settle her estate 9. To place or arrange in(to) a desired (especially: calm) state, or make final disposition of (something). Labels: transitive Example: The curate settled his collar, coughed, and, making an effort, knocked. Example: She twisted out from under the claim of his palm to settle her feet on the floor. 10. To place or arrange in(to) a desired (especially: calm) state, or make final disposition of (something). Labels: transitive Example: God settled then the huge whale-bearing lake, / And Tenedos we reach'd; [...] Example: [I]t drawing towards night, and they hoping that ſleep might ſettle his brains, with all haſt they got him to bed; [...] 11. To place or arrange in(to) a desired (especially: calm) state, or make final disposition of (something). Labels: UK, dialectal, transitive 12. To place or arrange in(to) a desired (especially: calm) state, or make final disposition of (something). Labels: transitive Example: 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, … 13. To place or arrange in(to) a desired (especially: calm) state, or make final disposition of (something). Labels: transitive Example: clear weather settles the roads 14. To become calm, quiet, or orderly; to stop being agitated. Labels: intransitive Example: The weather settled. Example: Wait until the crowd settles before speaking. 15. To become calm, quiet, or orderly; to stop being agitated. Labels: intransitive Example: The roads settled late in the spring. 16. To establish or become established in a steady position: Labels: transitive Example: And he settled his countenance stedfastly [upon him], until he was ashamed. 17. To establish or become established in a steady position: Labels: transitive Example: 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. Example: But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever. 18. To establish or become established in a steady position: Labels: US, obsolete, transitive Example: to settle a minister 19. To establish or become established in a steady position: Labels: transitive 20. To establish or become established in a steady position: Labels: intransitive, obsolete Example: He sighs with most success that settles well. 21. To establish or become established in a steady position: Labels: intransitive Example: As People marry now, and ſettle; / Fierce Love abates his uſual Mettle: [...] 22. To establish or become established in a steady position: Labels: intransitive Example: He is settled in the profession of law at Rochester, New York. Example: 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'. 23. To establish or become established in a steady position: Labels: intransitive, usually Example: 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. Example: Chyle [...] runs through all the intermediate colors until it settles in an intense red. 24. To fix one's residence in a place; to establish a dwelling place, home, or colony. (Compare settle down.) Labels: intransitive Example: the Saxons who settled in Britain Example: 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 in an area known as Sheung Wan (the Upper Bay) on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island. 25. To fix one's residence in a place; to establish a dwelling place, home, or colony. (Compare settle down.) Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: the French first settled Canada Example: the Puritans settled New England 26. To move (people) to (a land or territory), so as to colonize it; to cause (people) to take residence in (a place). Labels: transitive Example: Rome began to settle displaced or disenfranchised citizens, veterans, and allies in colonies beyond Italy. 27. To sink, or cause (something, or impurities within it) to sink down, especially so as to become clear or compact. Labels: transitive Example: to settle coffee, or the grounds of coffee 28. To sink, or cause (something, or impurities within it) to sink down, especially so as to become clear or compact. Labels: transitive Example: to settle the sediment out of the water 29. To sink, or cause (something, or impurities within it) to sink down, especially so as to become clear or compact. Labels: transitive Example: to settle the chips in the potato chip bag by shaking it 30. To sink, or cause (something, or impurities within it) to sink down, especially so as to become clear or compact. Labels: intransitive 31. To sink, or cause (something, or impurities within it) to sink down, especially so as to become clear or compact. Labels: intransitive Example: Sometimes a tub will settle at one corner, causing the rim to slope. 32. To sink, or cause (something, or impurities within it) to sink down, especially so as to become clear or compact. Labels: intransitive Example: The chips in the bag of potato chips settled during shipping. 33. To sink, or cause (something, or impurities within it) to sink down, especially so as to become clear or compact. Labels: intransitive Example: wine settles by standing 34. Of an animal: to make or become pregnant. Labels: ambitransitive Example: 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 determined and they are not suffering from either a diseased or abnormal condition of the reproductive system. Example: 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 trial.