SET'TLE, n. [L. sedile. See Set.] A seat or bench; something to sit on.

SET'TLE, v.t. [from set.]

1. To place in a permanent condition after wandering or fluctuation.

I will settle you after your old estates. Ezek. 36.

2. To fix; to establish; to make permanent in any place.

I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever. 1 Chron. 17.

3. To establish in business or way of life; as, to settle a son in trade.

4. To marry; as, to settle a doughter.

5. To establish; to confirm.

Her will alone could settle or revoke. Prior.

6. To determine what is uncertain; to establish; to free from doubt; as, to settle questions or points of law. The supreme court have settled the question.

7. To fix; to establish; to make certain or permanent; as, to settle the succession to the thron in a particular family. So we speak of settled habits and settled opinions.

8. To fix or establish; not to suffer to doubt or waver.

It will settle teh wavering and confirm the doubtful. Swift.

9. To make close or compact.

Cover ant-hills up that the rain may settle the turf before the spring.

A seat or bench; something to sit on. – Dryden.

1. To fall to the bottom of liquor; to subside; to sink and rest on the bottom; as, lees or dregs settle. Slimy particles in water settle and form mud at the bottom of rivers. This word is used of the extraneous matter of liquors, when it subsides spontaneously. But in chimical operations, when substances mixed or in solution are decomposed, and one component part subsides, it is said to be precipitated. But it may also be said to settle.
2. To lose motion or fermentation; to deposit, as feces. A government on such occasions, is always thick before it settles. – Addison.
3. To fix one's habitation or residence. Belgians had settled on the southern coast of Britain, before the Romans invaded the isle. English Puritans who first settled in New England. – Vattel, Trans.
4. To marry and establish a domestic state. Where subsistence is easily obtained, children settle at an early period of life.
5. To become fixed after change or fluctuation; as, the wind came about and settled in the west. Bacon.
6. To become stationary; to quit a rambling or irregular course for a permanent or methodical one.
7. To become fixed or permanent; to take a lasting form or state; as, a settled conviction. Chyle … runs through the intermediate colors till it settles in an intense red. – Arbuthnot.
8. To rest; to repose. When time hath worn out their natural vanity, and taught them discretion, their fondness settles on its proper object. Spectator.
9. To become calm; to cease from agitation. Till the fury of his highness settle, / Come not before him. – Shak.
10. To make a jointure for a wife. Lie sighs with most success that settles well. – Garth.
11. To sink by its weight; and in loose bodies, to become more compact. We say, a wall settles, a house settles upon its foundation; a mass of sand settles and becomes more firm.
12. To sink after being heaved, and to dry; as, roads settle in spring after frost and rain.
13. To be ordained or installed over a parish, church or congregation. A. B. was invited to settle in the first society in New Haven. N. D. settled in the ministry very young.
14. To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement. He has settled with his creditors.

1. To place in a permanent condition after wandering or fluctuation. I will settle you after your old estates. – Ezek. xxxvi.
2. To fix; to establish; to make permanent in any place. I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever. – 1 Chron. xvii.
3. To establish in business or way of life; as, to settle a son in trade.
4. To marry; as, to settle a daughter.
5. To establish; to confirm. Her will alone could settle or revoke. – Prior.
6. To determine what is uncertain; to establish; to free from doubt; as, to settle questions or points of law. The supreme court have settled the question.
7. To fix; to establish; to make certain or permanent; as, to settle the succession to a throne in a particular family. So we speak of sealed habits and settled opinions.
8. To fix or establish; not to suffer to doubt or waver. It will settle the wavering and confirm the doubtful. – Swift.
9. To make close or compact. Cover ant-hills up that the rain may settle the turf before the spring. – Mortimer.
10. To cause to subside after being heaved and loosened by frost; or to dry and harden after rain. Thus clear weather settles the roads.
11. To fix or establish by gift, grant or any legal act; as, to settle a pension on an officer, or an annuity on a child.
12. To fix firmly. Settle your mind on valuable objects.
13. To cause to sink or subside, as extraneous matter in liquors. In fining wine, we add something to settle the lees.
14. To compose; to tranquilize what is disturbed; as, sells the thoughts or mind when agitated.
15. To establish in the pastoral office; to ordain over a church and society, or parish; as, to settle a minister. – United States. Boswell.
16. To plant with inhabitants; to colonize. The French first settled Canada; the Puritans settled New England. Plymouth was settled in 1620. Hartford was settled in 1636. Wethersfield was the first settled town in Connecticut. Provinces first settled after the flood. – Mitford. Land which they are unable to settle and cultivate. – Vattel, Trans.
17. To adjust; to close by amicable agreement or otherwise; as, to settle a controversy or dispute by agreement, treaty or by force.
18. To adjust; to liquidate; to balance, or to pay; as, to settle accounts. To settle the land, among seamen, to cause it to sink or appear lower by receding from it.

1. A seat of any kind.
   
   
   [Obs.] "Upon the settle of his majesty" Hampole.
2. 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.

3. 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.
   
   

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

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

4. A bench; especially, a bench with a high back.
5. 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.]
6. To fix one's residence; to establish a dwelling place or home; as, the Saxons who settled in Britain.
7. A place 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.

   Settle bed, a bed convertible into a seat. [Eng.]

8. 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.

9. To enter into the married state, or the state of a householder.
   
   

   As people marry now and settle. Prior.

10. 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.
11. To be established in an employment or profession; as, to settle in the practice of law.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. To become clear after being turbid or obscure; to clarify by depositing matter held in suspension; as, the weather settled; wine settles by standing.
    
    

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

16. 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.

17. To sink to the bottom; to fall to the bottom, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reserveir.
18. To adjust, as something in discussion; to make up; to compose; to pacify; as, to settle a quarrel.
19. To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, as the foundation of a house, etc.
20. To adjust, as accounts; to liquidate; to balance; as, to settle an account.
21. To become calm; to cease from agitation.
    
    

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

22. Hence, to pay; as, to settle a bill.
    
    
    [Colloq.] Abbott.
23. To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement; as, he has settled with his creditors.
24. 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.

    Syn. -- To fix; establish; regulate; arrange; compose; adjust; determine; decide.

25. To make a jointure for a wife.
    
    

    He sighs with most success that settles well. Garth.