settle down
Britishverb
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(also tr) to make or become quiet and orderly
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(often foll by to) to apply oneself diligently
please settle down to work
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to adopt an orderly and routine way of life, take up a permanent post, etc, esp after marriage
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Begin living a stable, orderly life; also, marry. For example, After traveling all over the world for years, he decided to settle down in his home town , or Her parents wished she would settle down and raise a family . [Early 1600s]
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Become calm, less nervous, or less restless, as in Come on, children, it's time to settle down . [Mid-1800s]
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Apply oneself seriously, as in If you don't settle down to your homework, you'll never get it done . [First half of 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
History has some advice for the despairing: Settle down and take a deep breath.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2020
Settle down, class: Professor Lawrence will school you now.
From Washington Post • Feb. 27, 2019
Settle down Cowboys fans, I come in peace.
From Golf Digest • Nov. 15, 2018
"Settle down – thoroughly deserved," he joked to a press corps that has never quite known where they stood with him, just how the Scot likes it.
From The Guardian • May 17, 2013
"Settle down, there," called Tristran, "settle down, fellow, and I'll see if I cannot find warm oats and bran for all of you."
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
