Settle in

Settle in

Today I have a phrasal verb for you: settle in. Settle in. Settle in means to get comfortable or established somewhere. You can mean physically comfortable, or just mentally comfortable. Settle in works with both of those. Here’s how you heard it today: For most people, at some point, they just settle in with the music they already know and like and stop discovering new music. That means they get comfortable with their playlists and their bands and they don’t venture out of their comfort zone to discover new music.

If you have a new colleague at work, someone who has just started, you might ask if he or she is settled in yet. A person is settled in when that person has set up his or her desk or work space, found the way around, met everyone, and gotten comfortable with the new job’s responsibilities. That person would be settled in, because now he or she is comfortable and established. That person is not new there anymore.

It took me weeks to get settled in after the last time I moved. I had so many boxes and I just didn’t unpack. It was actually a few months before I felt truly settled in, before I was truly comfortable in my new apartment.

You might also say you’re settling in for the night. Maybe it’s 9:00 and you’re finally at home, the activity of the day is calming down and you’re just going to watch a movie before going to bed. You’re settling in for the night—you’re getting comfortable, you’re done moving around, you’re just going to sit down in your favorite chair or even in bed and watch a movie. That’s settling in for the night.

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