settlement

An agreement between people that ends a legal disagreement without a court deciding the case.

• They reached a settlement.
• The company offered a settlement to avoid a trial.
• Her lawyers negotiated a settlement with the former employer.

How to use it: reach a settlement with someone (He reached a settlement with his landlord.); a settlement of something (The lawyers agreed on a settlement of the claim.)

Similar words: agreement, compromise

Common phrases: out-of-court settlement, reach a settlement, settlement with someone

A new place where a group of people have built homes and begun living.

• They built a small settlement.
• The first settlement stood beside the river.
• Several new settlements appeared along the railway.

Similar words: colony

Common phrases: new settlement, frontier settlement, establish a settlement

A place where people live together, such as a village or town.

• The nearest settlement is ten miles away.
• Archaeologists found the remains of an ancient settlement.
• The region contains many small farming settlements.

Similar words: community, populated place

Common phrases: rural settlement, small settlement, ancient settlement

An agreement or solution that brings a disagreement to an end.

• Both sides want a peaceful settlement.
• The talks produced a settlement of the dispute.
• Workers returned after the union accepted the settlement.

How to use it: settlement of something (They sought a settlement of the border dispute.)

Similar words: resolution, agreement

Common phrases: peaceful settlement, settlement of something, negotiated settlement

The process of people moving into an area and making it their home.

• The valley was suitable for settlement.
• Permanent settlement began near the coast.
• The railway encouraged the settlement of inland areas.

How to use it: settlement of something (The settlement of the region took several decades.)

Similar words: colonization

Common phrases: permanent settlement, human settlement, settlement of something

The slow sinking of a building or its foundations into the ground.

• Settlement caused cracks in the wall.
• Engineers measured the settlement of the foundations.
• Uneven settlement can damage an entire building.

Similar words: subsidence

Common phrases: uneven settlement, foundation settlement, settlement cracks