settlement

noun

set·tle·ment | \ ˈse-tᵊl-mənt

Definition of settlement

1 : the act or process of settling

2a : an act of bestowing or giving possession under legal sanction

b : the sum, estate, or income secured to one by such a settlement

3a : occupation by settlers

b : a place or region newly settled

c : a small village

4 : settlement house

5 : an agreement composing differences

6 : payment or adjustment of an account

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about settlement

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Examples of settlement in a Sentence

I got the house in the divorce settlement. The parties have not been able to reach a settlement in the case. We were hoping for a quick settlement of the dispute between the neighbors. English settlements in North America. This was the island's first colonial settlement. They came upon the ruins of an ancient settlement.

Recent Examples on the Web

On Wednesday, the Saudi Royal Court said the anticorruption committee summoned 381 individuals to face indictments or testify and reached monetary settlements with 87 who confessed to charges presented to them. ... — Rory Jones And Summer Said, WSJ, "Saudi Arabia Closes Corruption Crackdown, Courts Investors," 30 Jan. 2019 Typically such settlements entail making a payment to an accuser in exchange for his or her signing a nondisclosure agreement (NDA). — Ben Widdicombe, Town & Country, "How Much Does It Cost to Keep Your Name Out of the News?," 18 Jan. 2019 By 2014, Kakuma was 58,000 people over capacity and the UN created a new settlement just north to accommodate those continuing to flee. — Sarah Butrymowicz, Marie Claire, "Refugee Girls Want to Change the World. Will We Let Them?," 7 Jan. 2019 Panama City—the oldest continuously occupied European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas—is turning 500. — Julia Eskins, Vogue, "Why Panama is the Place to Go in 2019," 1 Jan. 2019 Papamiltiadis asserted that none of these integration points violated Facebook’s 2012 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, because users gave permission for applications and websites to access their Facebook data. — Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica, "Facebook “partner” arrangements: Are they as bad as they look?," 19 Dec. 2018 Among the Iron Gates settlements is Lepenski Vir, named after the whirlpool at its doorstep. — Mark Barna, Discover Magazine, "When Farmers and Foragers First Met," 24 Oct. 2018 According to the Associated Press, this is the largest settlement from a series of similar lawsuits against the company. — Sarah Kinonen, Allure, "Johnson & Johnson Was Ordered to Pay a Record-Setting Verdict [Update]," 16 July 2018 Adrian said the company did not initially treat it as a nuisance settlement. — Kevin Crowe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "'He'll evict you in a minute.' Landlord quietly becomes a force in Milwaukee rental business...and eviction court," 13 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'settlement.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near settlement

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Last Updated

10 Feb 2019

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Time Traveler for settlement

The first known use of settlement was in 1648

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More Definitions for settlement

settlement

noun

English Language Learners Definition of settlement

: a formal agreement or decision that ends an argument or dispute also : an amount of money that someone receives as part of such an agreement

: the act or process of settling an argument or disagreement

: the act of paying back money that is owed

See the full definition for settlement in the English Language Learners Dictionary

settlement

noun

set·tle·ment | \ ˈse-tᵊl-mənt

Kids Definition of settlement

1 : a formal agreement that ends an argument or dispute

2 : final payment (as of a bill)

3 : the act or fact of establishing colonies the settlement of New England

4 : a place or region newly settled

5 : a small village

settlement

noun

set·tle·ment

Legal Definition of settlement

1 : the act or process of settling

2a : an agreement reducing or resolving differences especially : an agreement between litigants that concludes the litigation the states finally agreed upon a settlement and a consent decree — W. J. Brennan, Jr. entered into a property settlement prior to the divorce

b : a formal and permanent grant or conveyance

c : the sum, estate, or income granted or paid under a settlement if the monetary limits of a defendant's insurance policy can be discovered in order to obtain reasonable settlements— J. H. Friedenthal et al.

3 : closing settlement costs

4 : the transfer of funds between a payor bank and a collecting bank in order to complete transactions for customers