settle for

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

settle for (third-person singular simple present settles for, present participle settling for, simple past and past participle settled for)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To accept or allow something, especially something not entirely desirable.

   He couldn't afford the expensive headphones, so he decided to settle for the lower-quality set.

   • 2011 June 4, Phil McNulty, “England 2 - 2 Switzerland”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     As the game entered three minutes of stoppage time, both sides almost snatched the win. Substitute Admir Mehmedi was inches away with Hart beaten and Stewart Downing, on for Walcott, shot weakly into the side-netting with the last kick of the game as England had to settle for a point.

Synonyms

• make do (with)

Translations

to accept or allow something, especially something not entirely desirable

• Finnish: tyytyä (fi)
• German: sich mit etwas zufriedengeben (de)
• Hungarian: megelégszik (hu), beéri (hu)
• Italian: accontentarsi (it)
• Polish: obywać się impf, obyć się pf, ograniczać się do impf, ograniczyć się do pf, poprzestawać impf, poprzestać pf, przestawać (pl) impf, zadowalać się impf, zadowolić się pf
• Spanish: conformar (es) (pronominal)