SETTLE DOWN

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does settle down mean? 

• SETTLE DOWN (verb)
  The verb SETTLE DOWN has 3 senses:

1. settle into a position, usually on a surface or ground

2. become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style

3. become quiet or calm, especially after a state of agitation

  Familiarity information: SETTLE DOWN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SETTLE DOWN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Settle into a position, usually on a surface or ground

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

settle; settle down

Context example:

dust settled on the roofs

Hypernyms (to "settle down" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "settle down"):

sediment (settle as sediment)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

root; settle; settle down; steady down; take root

Context example:

He finally settled down

Hypernyms (to "settle down" is one way to...):

stabilise; stabilize (become stable or more stable)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "settle down"):

roost (settle down or stay, as if on a roost)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become quiet or calm, especially after a state of agitation

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

calm; calm down; chill out; cool it; cool off; settle down; simmer down

Context example:

It took a while after the baby was born for things to settle down again.

Hypernyms (to "settle down" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

Some of the colour had come back into his cheeks, though he still looked very sick and still continued to slip out and settle down as the ship banged about.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Speaking about spending, you appear to be in a very high spending period now that will thankfully settle down by November 18.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

There's a start for you if you want to settle down.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Will it keep you in England, induce you to marry Miss Oliver, and settle down like an ordinary mortal?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Then, unable to settle down to reading, I walked slowly round the room, examining the pictures of celebrated criminals with which every wall was adorned.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There I parted from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and respectable life.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You and I, Mina dear, who are engaged and are going to settle down soon soberly into old married women, can despise vanity.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A day of clear weather might follow, or three days or four, and then the fog would settle down upon us, seemingly thicker than ever.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Amy said, "Everyone seemed waiting for something, and couldn't settle down, which was queer, since Father was safe at home," and Beth innocently wondered why their neighbors didn't run over as usual.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Between ourselves, I have very good reason to wish him to stay with me, and I am sure that, with his high spirit and his ideas, he would never settle down again after once he had a taste o’ London.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)