to settle on
- phrasal verb
- /ˈsɛtəl ɑn/
- She took a moment to adjust her glasses before settling on the painting in front of her.
- settle on one
- settle on the terms
- settle on a single
Examples
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And so the party settled on Mike Johnson.
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Yeah, I thought we we settled on time travel.
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Tell me have you two settled on a date yet?
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We seem to have settled on three.
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We're just not gonna make it official till we settle on a date.
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How did you settle on the amount?
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We settled on a concept.
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How did you end up settling on the title Summer of Soul?
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Once we settle on a project, we can spend a year or more investigating it.
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So finally, I settled on psychology with a minor in contemporary dance.
Synonyms
Give most attention and effort to one person or task
Give your full attention to one activity or subject
To look at something for a long time
To give most attention to one person or thing
To pay close attention to one small part or detail
Antonyms
How Focused
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal meanings 'settle' (to come to rest) + 'on' (upon) map onto a metaphorical ‘resting’ of attention or choice on something, so learners can often infer the general idea of focusing or choosing. Because this is a metaphorical extension from a physical sense to a cognitive/decisional one, some nuances (e.g. use with decisions vs. attention) may not be fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Settle on gives a clear picture: imagine a bird landing and settling on a branch so it stops moving and stays on that spot. So when your eyes or attention settle on something, they 'become fixed' or 'focus' on it.