settle

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Settled p. pr. & vb. n. Settling ] [ OE. setlen, AS. setlan. √154. See Settle, n. In senses 7, 8, and 9 perhaps confused with OE. sahtlen to reconcile, AS. sahtlian, fr. saht reconciliation, sacon to contend, dispute. Cf. Sake. ] 1. To place in a fixed or permanent condition; to make firm, steady, or stable; to establish; to fix; esp., to establish in life; to fix in business, in a home, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

And he settled his countenance steadfastly upon him, until he was ashamed. 2 Kings viii. 11. (Rev. Ver.) [ 1913 Webster ]

The father thought the time drew on
Of setting in the world his only son. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To establish in the pastoral office; to ordain or install as pastor or rector of a church, society, or parish; as, to settle a minister. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to be no longer in a disturbed condition; to render quiet; to still; to calm; to compose. [ 1913 Webster ]

God settled then the huge whale-bearing lake. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hoping that sleep might settle his brains. Bunyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To clear of dregs and impurities by causing them to sink; to render pure or clear; -- said of a liquid; as, to settle coffee, or the grounds of coffee. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To restore or bring to a smooth, dry, or passable condition; -- said of the ground, of roads, and the like; as, clear weather settles the roads. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To cause to sink; to lower; to depress; hence, also, to render close or compact; as, to settle the contents of a barrel or bag by shaking it. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To determine, as something which is exposed to doubt or question; to free from unscertainty or wavering; to make sure, firm, or constant; to establish; to compose; to quiet; as, to settle the mind when agitated; to settle questions of law; to settle the succession to a throne; to settle an allowance. [ 1913 Webster ]

It will settle the wavering, and confirm the doubtful. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To adjust, as something in discussion; to make up; to compose; to pacify; as, to settle a quarrel. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To adjust, as accounts; to liquidate; to balance; as, to settle an account. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. Hence, to pay; as, to settle a bill. [ Colloq. ] Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. To plant with inhabitants; to colonize; to people; as, the French first settled Canada; the Puritans settled New England; Plymouth was settled in 1620. [ 1913 Webster ]

To settle on or
To settle upon, (a) to confer upon by permanent grant; to assure to. “I . . . have settled upon him a good annuity.” Addison. (b) to choose; to decide on; -- sometimes with the implication that the choice is not ideal, but the best available. --
To settle the land (Naut.), to cause it to sink, or appear lower, by receding from it. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To fix; establish; regulate; arrange; compose; adjust; determine; decide. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To become fixed or permanent; to become stationary; to establish one's self or itself; to assume a lasting form, condition, direction, or the like, in place of a temporary or changing state. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wind came about and settled in the west. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Chyle . . . runs through all the intermediate colors until it settles in an intense red. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fix one's residence; to establish a dwelling place or home; as, the Saxons who settled in Britain. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To enter into the married state, or the state of a householder. [ 1913 Webster ]

As people marry now and settle. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To be established in an employment or profession; as, to settle in the practice of law. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To become firm, dry, and hard, as the ground after the effects of rain or frost have disappeared; as, the roads settled late in the spring. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To become clear after being turbid or obscure; to clarify by depositing matter held in suspension; as, the weather settled; wine settles by standing. [ 1913 Webster ]

A government, on such occasions, is always thick before it settles. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To sink to the bottom; to fall to the bottom, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reserveir. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, as the foundation of a house, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To become calm; to cease from agitation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Till the fury of his highness settle,
Come not before him. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement; as, he has settled with his creditors. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. To make a jointure for a wife. [ 1913 Webster ]

He sighs with most success that settles well. Garth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being settled; confirmed state. [ R. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of setting, or the state of being settled. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) Establishment in life, in business, condition, etc.; ordination or installation as pastor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every man living has a design in his head upon wealth power, or settlement in the world. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) The act of peopling, or state of being peopled; act of planting, as a colony; colonization; occupation by settlers; as, the settlement of a new country. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) The act or process of adjusting or determining; composure of doubts or differences; pacification; liquidation of accounts; arrangement; adjustment; as, settlement of a controversy, of accounts, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) Bestowal, or giving possession, under legal sanction; the act of giving or conferring anything in a formal and permanent manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

My flocks, my fields, my woods, my pastures take,
With settlement as good as law can make. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

(e) (Law) A disposition of property for the benefit of some person or persons, usually through the medium of trustees, and for the benefit of a wife, children, or other relatives; jointure granted to a wife, or the act of granting it. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which settles, or is settled, established, or fixed. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) Matter that subsides; settlings; sediment; lees; dregs. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Fuller's earth left a thick settlement. Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) A colony newly established; a place or region newly settled; as, settlement in the West. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) That which is bestowed formally and permanently; the sum secured to a person; especially, a jointure made to a woman at her marriage; also, in the United States, a sum of money or other property formerly granted to a pastor in additional to his salary. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) (a) The gradual sinking of a building, whether by the yielding of the ground under the foundation, or by the compression of the joints or the material. (b) pl. Fractures or dislocations caused by settlement. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) A settled place of abode; residence; a right growing out of residence; legal residence or establishment of a person in a particular parish or town, which entitles him to maintenance if a pauper, and subjects the parish or town to his support. Blackstone. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

Act of settlement (Eng. Hist.), the statute of 12 and 13 William III, by which the crown was limited to the present reigning house (the house of Hanover). Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]