Settle | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Sĕt'tle, n.

noun

(sĕt'l), n. [A-S. sitel, setel, setl, seotol, setol, from sittan, to sit; L. Ger. setel, D. zetel, Goth. sitls, O. H. Ger. sezzal, N. H. Ger. sessel.]

Sense 1. A place settled or made lower than the rest; a wide step or platform lower than some other part.

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

Sense 2. A bench with a high back.

Sĕt'tle, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. SETTLED; p. pr. & vb. n. SETTLING.] [From set.]

To place in a fixed or permanent condition; to make firm, steady, or stable; to establish; to fix; hence, specifically, (a.) To establish in life; to fix in business, in situation, and the like. (b.) To establish in the pastoral office; to ordain as pastor or rector of a church, society, or parish; as, to settle a minister. [U. S.]
To cause to be no longer in a disturbed, broken up, or turbid condition; to render quiet, clear, and the like; to still.

God settled then the huge whale-bearing lake. Chapman. Hence, specifically, (a.) To clear of dregs and impurities; to render pure or clear;—said of a liquid; and hence, also, to cause to sink, as dregs; as, to settle coffee, or the grounds of coffee. (b.) To restore to a smooth, dry, or passable condition;—said of the ground, of roads, and the like; as, clear weather settles the roads.

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.
To determine, as something which is exposed to doubt or question; to free from uncertainty 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.

To adjust, as something in discussion or controversy; to make up; to compose; to pacify; to adjust, as accounts; to liquidate; to balance; to close up.
To plant with inhabitants; to colonize; to people; as, the French first settled Canada; the Puritans settled New England; Plymouth was settled in 1620.

Settling-day, a day for settling accounts, as in the stock-market. Simmonds.—To settle on or upon, to confer by permanent grant upon; 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. Syn.—To fix; establish; regulate; arrange; compose; adjust; determine; decide.

Sĕt'tle, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To become fixed or permanent; to establish one's self; to assume a lasting form or condition; to become stationary, from a temporary or changing state of things; as, a settled conviction, affection, and the like.

The wind came about and settled in the west. Bacon.

Chyle . . . runs through the intermediate colors till it settles in an intense red. Arbuthnot.

Sense 2. Hence, specifically, to fix one's place or residence; to take up habitation; to establish one's self for continuous abode; to enter into the married state, or the state of a householder; also, to be established in an employment or profession; as, to settle in the ministry. “As people marry now and settle.” Prior.

Sense 3. To become quiet or clear; to change from a disturbed or turbid condition to the opposite; to become dry and hard, as the ground after rain or frost; to clarify and deposit dregs, as a liquid; as, wine settles by standing; a road settles in the spring.

A government, on such occasions, is always thick before it settles. Addison.

Sense 4. To sink gradually; to fall; to subside, as dregs from clarifying liquid; to become lowered, as a structure, by the sinking of its foundation, or of the ground underneath; as, the grounds of coffee settle; a house settles on its foundation.

Sense 5. To become calm; to cease from agitation.

Till the fury of his highness settle, Come not before him. Shak.

Sense 6. To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement; as, he has settled with his creditors.

Sense 7. To make a jointure for a wife.

He sighs with most success that settles well. Garth.