MEANING
1. To make a home or reach a stable position or way of living.
2. To bring a dispute, question, debt, or obligation to an agreed or completed state.
3. To move downward, come to rest, or become quieter and more stable.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- settle in a town
- settle into a routine
On the page
The family settled in the valley after the war.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- settle
- Past tense
- settled
- Past participle
- settled
- Present participle
- settling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- settle
- Present continuous
- am/is/are settling
- Present perfect
- have/has settled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been settling
- Past
- settled
- Past continuous
- was/were settling
- Past perfect
- had settled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been settling
- Future
- will settle
- Future continuous
- will be settling
- Future perfect
- will have settled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been settling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: settle; settles; settled; settled; settling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: settles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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