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to grow up and settle down

to grow up and settle down

3.4
Become an adult and start a steady life with a job or family
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : madurar y establecerse
  • He felt ready to grow up and settle down when he found a job he loved.

Examples

  • I used to be scared of growing up and settling down and that was until I fell in love with you and now I can't wait.

  • After traveling the world, she decided to grow up and settle down in her hometown.

  • Many people believe that it is time to grow up and settle down after starting a family.

Synonyms

to settle down
vsto grow up and settle down
173 3.0

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

involves maturing into adulthood before creating a stable, routine life

Antonyms

2 4.3

Weather that often changes, bringing rain or strong wind

How Settled

to put down roots
  • Informal
8 4.2
to grow up and settle down
3.4
to settle down
173 3.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

grow + up + and + settle + down

This is a coordinated phrase made from two common, largely compositional phrasal verbs: 'grow up' (to mature) and 'settle down' (to establish a stable life). Both senses follow predictable particle‑verb patterns and are cross‑linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer the combined meaning.

Etymology

Grow up and settle down gives a clear image: first grow up like a child becoming an adult, then settle down like someone putting down roots in one home. So it means 'to mature and live a steady life', for example by getting a steady job or starting a family.