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.
She’s racked up hundreds of miles, all of which appear to be in service of one thing: finding a mate to settle down with.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
She might just find one and settle down.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
Now they’ve decided it’s time to settle down.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
Brent crude, the international standard, settle down 6.9% at $97.26 a barrel.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
He could fix anything that had moving parts—in fact, Father often said Bucky'd make a brilliant engineer if he’d settle down long enough to finish school.
From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon
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.
