WordDictionary

Noun:

• A long bench, often with a high back and arms, with storage space underneath for linen.
• archaic A seat of any kind.
• obsolete A place made lower than the rest; a wide step or platform lower than some other part.

Verb:

• obsolete To make a jointure for a wife.
• intransitive To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement; as, he has '''settled''' with his creditors.
• intransitive To become calm; to cease from agitation.
• intransitive To become clear after being turbid or obscure; to clarify by depositing matter held in suspension; as, the weather '''settled'''; wine '''settles''' by standing.
• intransitive 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.
• intransitive 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.
• intransitive To be established in an employment or profession; as, to '''settle''' in the practice of law.
• intransitive To enter into the married state, or the state of a householder.
• intransitive To fix one's residence; to establish a dwelling place or home; as, the Saxons who '''settled''' in Britain.
• intransitive To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, as the foundation of a house, etc.
• intransitive To sink to the bottom; to fall to the bottom, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reservoir.
• archaic To adjust, as accounts; to liquidate; to balance; as, to '''settle''' an account.
• colloquial To pay; as, to settle a bill. --Abbott.
• obsolete|US 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.
• transitive To adjust, as something in discussion; to make up; to compose; to pacify; as, to '''settle''' a quarrel.
• transitive To cause to be no longer in a disturbed condition; to render quiet; to still; to calm; to compose.
• transitive 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.
• transitive 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.
• transitive 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.
• transitive 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.
• transitive To plant with inhabitants; to colonize; to people; as, the French first '''settled''' Canada; the Puritans '''settled''' New England; Plymouth was settled in 1620.
• transitive 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.