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.
They then relocated to Texas a few months after lockdown—explaining at the time that they realized they wanted to settle down in a place where their kids could spend more time in nature.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
On the nostalgic piano ballad “Good Morning,” he imagines what it might be like to settle down somewhere “with a dog and a wife.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
A decade later, it’s hard to believe someone wrote that with a straight face, especially as polls show that men are more eager than women to settle down and build families.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
Now they’ve decided it’s time to settle down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
Slowly Ranofer put down the water jug, feeling his whole spirit wilt and the old burdens settle down on him again.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
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.
