SETTLE

Definitions

1. 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. And he settled his countenance steadfastly upon him, until he was ashamed. 2 Kings viii. 11. (Rev. Ver.) The father thought the time drew on Of setting in the world his only son. Dryden.
2. 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.]
3. 3. To cause to be no longer in a disturbed condition; to render quiet; to still; to calm; to compose. God settled then the huge whale-bearing lake. Chapman. Hoping that sleep might settle his brains. Bunyan.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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. It will settle the wavering, and confirm the doubtful. Swift.
8. 8. To adjust, as something in discussion; to make up; to compose; to pacify; as, to settle a quarrel.
9. 9. To adjust, as accounts; to liquidate; to balance; as, to settle an account.
10. 10. Hence, to pay; as, to settle a bill. [Colloq.] Abbott.
11. 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. To settle on or upon, to confer upon by permanent grant; to assure to. "I . . . have settled upon him a good annuity." Addison. -- To settle the land (Naut.), to cause it to sink, or appear lower, by receding from it.