settle

settle
    n 1: a long wooden bench with a back [syn: {settle}, {settee}]
    v 1: settle into a position, usually on a surface or ground;
         "dust settled on the roofs" [syn: {settle}, {settle down}]
    2: bring to an end; settle conclusively; "The case was decided";
       "The judge decided the case in favor of the plaintiff"; "The
       father adjudicated when the sons were quarreling over their
       inheritance" [syn: {decide}, {settle}, {resolve},
       {adjudicate}]
    3: settle conclusively; come to terms; "We finally settled the
       argument" [syn: {settle}, {square off}, {square up},
       {determine}]
    4: take up residence and become established; "The immigrants
       settled in the Midwest" [syn: {settle}, {locate}]
    5: come to terms; "After some discussion we finally made up"
       [syn: {reconcile}, {patch up}, {make up}, {conciliate},
       {settle}]
    6: go under, "The raft sank and its occupants drowned" [syn:
       {sink}, {settle}, {go down}, {go under}] [ant: {float},
       {swim}]
    7: become settled or established and stable in one's residence
       or life style; "He finally settled down" [syn: {settle},
       {root}, {take root}, {steady down}, {settle down}]
    8: become resolved, fixed, established, or quiet; "The roar
       settled to a thunder"; "The wind settled in the West"; "it is
       settling to rain"; "A cough settled in her chest"; "Her mood
       settled into lethargy"
    9: establish or develop as a residence; "He settled the farm 200
       years ago"; "This land was settled by Germans"
    10: come to rest
    11: arrange or fix in the desired order; "She settled the
        teacart"
    12: accept despite lack of complete satisfaction; "We settled
        for a lower price"
    13: end a legal dispute by arriving at a settlement; "The two
        parties finally settled"
    14: dispose of; make a financial settlement
    15: become clear by the sinking of particles; "the liquid
        gradually settled"
    16: cause to become clear by forming a sediment (of liquids)
    17: sink down or precipitate; "the mud subsides when the waters
        become calm" [syn: {subside}, {settle}]
    18: fix firmly; "He ensconced himself in the chair" [syn:
        {ensconce}, {settle}]
    19: get one's revenge for a wrong or an injury; "I finally
        settled with my old enemy" [syn: {settle}, {get back}]
    20: make final; put the last touches on; put into final form;
        "let's finalize the proposal" [syn: {finalize}, {finalise},
        {settle}, {nail down}]
    21: form a community; "The Swedes settled in Minnesota"
    22: come as if by falling; "Night fell"; "Silence fell" [syn:
        {fall}, {descend}, {settle}]
    

Settle \Set"tle\, n. [OE. setel, setil, a seat, AS. setl: akin
   to OHG. sezzal, G. sessel, Goth. sitls, and E. sit.
   [root]154. See {Sit}.]
   1. A seat of any kind. [Obs.] "Upon the settle of his
      majesty" --Hampole.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A bench; especially, a bench with a high back.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A place made lower than the rest; a wide step or platform
      lower than some other part.
      [1913 Webster]

            And from the bottom upon the ground, even to the
            lower settle, shall be two cubits, and the breadth
            one cubit.                            --Ezek. xliii.
                                                  14.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Settle bed}, a bed convertible into a seat. [Eng.]
      [1913 Webster]
    

Settle \Set"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Settled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Settling}.] [OE. setlen, AS. setlan. [root]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]
    

Settle \Set"tle\, 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]
    

465 Moby Thesaurus words for "settle":
      KO, abalienate, abide, accommodate, accommodate with, accord,
      adapt, adapt to, adjust, adjust to, affirm, afford proof of,
      agree on, agree with, alien, alienate, alight, alight upon, allay,
      amortize, anchor, answer, answer conclusively, appoint, argue down,
      arrange, arrange matters, ascertain, assign, assimilate to, assure,
      attend to, balance, barter, be guided by, beat, beat all hollow,
      beat hollow, becalm, bed, bend, bequeath, best, billet at, bivouac,
      blast, blot out, bring home to, bring to terms, bring together,
      bump off, burrow, calm, calm down, camp, cave, cave in, cede,
      certify, chart, chime in with, choose, cinch, clarify, classify,
      clean up, clear, clear off, clear up, climb down, clinch, close,
      close with, codify, colonize, come down, come down on,
      come to anchor, comply, comply with, compose, compound, compromise,
      concert, conclude, confer, confirm, conform, confound, confute,
      consign, contradict, controvert, convey, cook, coordinate, cop out,
      correct, correspond, croak, crush, decide, decline, deed,
      deed over, deep-dye, defeat, define, deliver, demise, demolish,
      demonstrate, denizen, deny, descend, descend upon, destroy,
      determine, devolve upon, discharge, discipline, dish, dismiss,
      dismiss all doubt, dismount, dispose, dispose of, dive, do for,
      do in, domesticate, droop, drop, drop anchor, drop on, drub,
      duck responsibility, dwell, embed, empeople, enfeoff, engraft,
      engrave, ensconce, ensure, entrench, erase, establish,
      establish residence, etch, evade responsibility, exchange, fall,
      fall in with, fall on, figure, find, find out, finish, fit, fix,
      fix on, fix up, floor, flop, flop down, flump, flump down, follow,
      follow from, found, founder, gear to, get, get at, get down,
      get off, give, give and take, give it to, give the business,
      give title to, give way, go by, go down, go fifty-fifty, gravitate,
      ground, gun down, hand, hand down, hand on, hand over, harmonize,
      have a case, head, heal the breach, hide, hit, hit upon, hive,
      hold good, hold water, honor, hors de combat, ice, impact, implant,
      impress, imprint, incline, infix, ingrain, inhabit, inscribe,
      install, insure, jam, keep house, knock out, lambaste, land, lapse,
      lather, lay, lay out, lead, lean, lick, lift, light, light upon,
      liquidate, live, live at, locate, lodge, lose altitude, lower,
      lull, make a deal, make a decision, make accounts square,
      make an adjustment, make certain, make concessions, make conform,
      make good, make no doubt, make no mistake, make out, make over,
      make peace, make sure, make sure of, make up, mediate, meet,
      meet halfway, methodize, mold, moor, move, nail down, negotiate,
      nest, nonplus, normalize, nose-dive, observe, off, order, organize,
      outclass, outdo, outfight, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint,
      outrun, outsail, outshine, overthrow, overturn, overwhelm, pack,
      park, parry, pass, pass on, pass over, patch things up, patch up,
      pay, pay in full, pay off, pay out, pay the bill, pay the shot,
      pay up, people, perch, pick, pioneer, place, plan, plant,
      play politics, plop, plop down, plump, plunge, point, polish off,
      populate, precipitate, print, prove, prove to be, prove true,
      purpose, put, put down, put in tune, put to silence, quiet,
      quiet down, quieten, quit, rationalize, reach a compromise,
      reassure, rebut, reconcile, rectify, redeem, reduce to silence,
      refute, regularize, regulate, relax, relocate, remain,
      remove all doubt, reside, resolve, restore harmony, retire,
      reunite, roost, root, routinize, rub off corners, rub out, ruin,
      rule, sag, satisfy, scuttle, seal, seat, see that, see to it,
      select, sell, serve one out, set, set at rest, set down, set in,
      set to rights, set up housekeeping, set up shop,
      settle differences, settle down, settle in, settle on,
      settle the matter, settle the score, settle with, shape,
      shoot down, show, shut up, sign away, sign over, silence, sink,
      sink down, sit, sit down, skin, skin alive, slouch, slump,
      slump down, smash all opposition, smooth it over, soothe, sort out,
      split the difference, square, square accounts, squash, squat,
      squelch, stamp, stand, standardize, stay, stay at, stereotype,
      stick, still, straighten, straighten out, strike a balance,
      strike a bargain, strike root, strike upon, submerge, subside,
      subvert, suit, surrender, swag, synchronize, systematize,
      take a resolution, take care of, take residence at, take root,
      take the mean, take up, take up residence, tally with, tend,
      tend to go, thrash, torpedo, touch down, trade, tranquilize,
      transfer, transmit, trim, triumph over, trounce, tune, tune up,
      turn over, undermine, undo, unhorse, upset, waste, wedge, whip,
      will, wind up, wipe out, work out, worst, yield, zap