Part 273

6. To become clear after being turbid or obscure; to clarify by depositing matter held in suspension; as, the weather settled; wine settles by standing.

A government, on such occasions, is always thick before it settles.

Addison.

7. To sink to the bottom; to fall to the bottom, as dregs of a liquid, or the sediment of a reserveir.

8. To sink gradually to a lower level; to subside, as the foundation of a house, etc.

9. To become calm; to cease from agitation.

Till the fury of his highness settle, Come not before him.

Shak.

10. To adjust differences or accounts; to come to an agreement; as, he has settled with his creditors.

11. To make a jointure for a wife.

He sighs with most success that settles well.

Garth.

Set"tled*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being settled; confirmed state. [R.] Bp. Hall.

Set"tle*ment (?), n. 1. The act of setting, or the state of being settled. Specifically: --

(a) Establishment in life, in business, condition, etc.; ordination or installation as pastor.

Every man living has a design in his head upon wealth power, or settlement in the world.

L'Estrange.

(b) The act of peopling, or state of being peopled; act of planting, as a colony; colonization; occupation by settlers; as, the settlement of a new country.

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(c) The act or process of adjusting or determining; composure of doubts or differences; pacification; liquidation of accounts; arrangement; adjustment; as, settlement of a controversy, of accounts, etc.

(d) Bestowal, or giving possession, under legal sanction; the act of giving or conferring anything in a formal and permanent manner.

My flocks, my fields, my woods, my pastures take, With settlement as good as law can make.

Dryden.

(e) (Law) A disposition of property for the benefit of some person or persons, usually through the medium of trustees, and for the benefit of a wife, children, or other relatives; jointure granted to a wife, or the act of granting it.

2. That which settles, or is settled, established, or fixed. Specifically: --

(a) Matter that subsides; settlings; sediment; lees; dregs. [Obs.]

Fuller's earth left a thick settlement.

Mortimer.