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Glite Dictionary
🤝 To resolve 😌 To become calm 🏡 To make a home 👌 To accept less ⬇️ To sink down 💵 To pay 😠 To take revenge 🧹 To arrange 🪑 A wooden bench
to settle

to settle

140 3.4
To pay money you owe
  • verb
  • /ˈsɛtəl/
translation icon : saldar
  • The taxpayer in Schleier sued his employer under the act and eventually settled for $145,629.
  • settle accounts
  • settle debts
  • pay to settle

And it's all kind of through the will and through all the documentation that the clerk requires you to kind of settle all of your affairs.

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Examples

  • You have to settle with the past, engage in the present, and believe in the future.

    Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)

  • Now I've got to settle with his bank.

  • If you come along with me, we'll settle this matter.

    Maverick (1994)

  • Your mother and I should be able to settle the property division in the morning.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • You told me we were coming here to settle up our claim!

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The only thing left on his bill was breakfast, which he settled with his remaining local currency.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The Central Intelligence Agency agreed to pay $750,000 to settle that case in 1988.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Um, I'm tryin' to settle up some outstanding bills.

    Ordinary Angels (2024)

  • They had insurance claims to settle... and they wanted to find out why the ship sank.

    Life of Pi (2012)

  • The automaker will pay a $15 million fine to settle the civil fraud charges.

Synonyms

to pay
vsto settle
∞ 1.0

To give money for something you buy or owe

involves making a final financial arrangement beyond simple money transfer
to clear
vsto settle
  • Specialized
154 6.0

To earn a net profit after expenses

focuses on resolving an account or making final financial terms
to square with
vsto settle
  • Informal
3 6.7

To pay someone all the money you owe them

is a final financial arrangement rather than only finishing the account

Antonyms

to default
  • Specialized
55 6.7

Fail to pay money you owe on a loan

Idioms

to settle a score
  • Offensive
2 6.2

To get revenge for something someone did to you

to settle someone's hash
  • Slang
9.3

To punish or defeat someone to stop their harmful actions

stay hungry and never settle
8.8

To keep wanting more and trying to improve without accepting being average

Phrasal Verbs

to settle down
173 3.0

To start living a quiet, steady life by having a regular job or a family

to settle for
143 3.6

Accept less than you wanted or hoped for

to settle in
132 3.3

To start to feel comfortable and at home in a new place or job

to settle down
56 2.5

To become quiet and calm after being excited

to settle on
55 3.1

To fix your eyes or attention on one thing

to settle into
41 3.3

Become comfortable in a new place, job, or routine

to settle with
22 4.1

To reach an agreement with someone to end a dispute

to settle down
  • Specialized
22 3.1

To come to rest on a surface, like dust or snow

to settle for less
9 4.5

To accept something worse than what you want or deserve

to settle a disagreement
1 3.1

Make people or groups agree after an argument

to settle upon
1 3.9

To pick one thing after thinking about the choices

to grow up and settle down
3.4

Become an adult and start a steady life with a job or family

How Paid

to reconcile
68 5.4
to settle
140 3.4
to clear
  • Specialized
154 6.0
to pay
∞ 1.0
to owe
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

settle infinitive
settled past
settled past participle
settling present participle
settles third person singular

Etymology

The verb settle meaning to pay a bill comes from set meaning 'to make right' or 'finish', so to settle an account is to make the payment and finish the debt. That's why to settle a bill is to complete the payment.