resolve

present singular third person resolves · participle present resolving · participle past resolved · past resolved

1. transitiveTo find a solution to (a problem).

   Exeter. Shall I call in Thambaſſadors my Liege? / King. Not yet my Couſin, til we be reſolude / Of ſome ſerious matters touching vs and France.

   1599 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Cronicle History of Henry the Fift, […] (First Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Tho[mas] Millington, and Iohn Busby […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

   Synonyms: decipher, upsolve, work out, absolve, decipher, get to the bottom of, iron out, meliorate

2. transitiveTo reduce to simple or intelligible notions; to make clear or certain; to unravel; to explain.

   to resolve a riddle

   2 more examples

   Resolve my doubt.

   c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   If such a dreamy touch should fall, ⁠O turn thee round, resolve the doubt, ⁠My guardian angel will speak out In that high place, and tell thee all.

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XLIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 66

3. intransitiveTo make a firm decision to do something. To become determined to reach a certain goal or take a certain action.

   I resolve to finish this work before I go home.

   1 more example

   At length, one night, when the company by ſome accident broke up much ſooner than ordinary, ſo that the candles were not half burnt out, ſhe was not able to reſiſt the temptation, but reſolved to have them ſome way or other. Accordingly, as ſoon as the hurry was over, and the ſervants, as ſhe thought, all gone to ſleep, ſhe ſtole out of her bed, and went down ſtairs, naked to her ſhift as ſhe was, with a deſign to ſteal them […]

   1762, Charles Johnstone, The Reverie; or, A Flight to the Paradise of Fools, volume 2, Dublin: […] Dillon Chamberlaine, →OCLC, page 202

4. transitiveTo determine or decide in purpose; to make ready in mind; to fix; to settle.

   He was resolved by an unexpected event.

   1 more example

   Gentlemen, importune me no farther, / For hovv I firmly am reſolu'd you knovv: / That is, not to beſtovv my yongeſt daughter, / Before I haue a husband for the elder: […]

   c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 210, column 2, lines 50–51

5. To come to an agreement or make peace; patch up relationship, settle differences, bury the hatchet.

   After two weeks of bickering, they finally resolved their differences.

6. intransitivereflexivetransitiveTo break down into constituent parts; to decompose; to disintegrate; to return to a simpler constitution or a primeval state.

   The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.

   3 more examples

   O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

   And ye Immortal Souls, that once vvere Men, / And novv reſolv’d to Elements agen.

   1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act II, scene (please specify |scene=i or ii), page 15

   The seclusion of such persons from society is dictated by no moral aversion to their crimes: it springs purely from prudential motives, which resolve themselves into a simple dread of the dangerous ghost by which the homicide is supposed to be pursued and haunted.

   1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 89

7. To cause to perceive or understand; to acquaint; to inform; to convince; to assure; to make certain.

   In health, good air, pleasure, riches, I am resolved it cannot be equalled by any region.

   1596, Walter Raleigh, The discovery of the large, rich, and beautiful Empire of Guiana, with a relation of the great and golden city of Manoa

   3 more examples

   We must be resolved how the law can be pure and perspicuous, and yet throw a polluted skirt over these Eleusinian mysteries.

   1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC

   Reſolve me Reaſon, vvhich of theſe is vvorſe, / VVant vvith a full, or vvith an empty purſe: […]

   1733 (indicated as 1732), [Alexander] Pope, Of the Use of Riches, an Epistle to the Right Honourable Allen Lord Bathurst, London: […] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 16

   She was proceeding in this manner when the surgeon entered the room. The lieutenant immediately asked how his patient did. But he resolved him only by saying, "Better, I believe, than he would have been by this time, if I had not been called; and even as it is, perhaps it would have been lucky if I could have been called sooner."

   1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

8. entertainmentTo cause a chord to go from dissonance to consonance.
9. engineeringTo render visible or distinguishable the parts of something.

   The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.

   2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist

10. computingTo find the IP address of a hostname, or the entity referred to by a symbol in source code; to look up.
11. raretransitiveTo melt; to dissolve; to liquefy or soften (a solid).

    With milke-white Hartes vpon an Iuorie ſled, / Thou ſhalt be drawen amidſt the froſen Pooles, / And ſcale the yſie mountaines lofty tops: / Which with thy beautie will be soone reſolu’d.

    c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, (please specify the page)

12. intransitiverarereflexiveTo melt; to dissolve; to become liquid.

    When the blood stagnates in any part, it first coagulates, then resolves, and turns alkaline.

    1731, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC

13. obsoletetransitiveTo liquefy (a gas or vapour).
14. datedmedicineTo disperse or scatter; to discuss, as an inflammation or a tumour.
15. obsoleteTo relax; to lie at ease.

    resolve himself into all sports and looseness again

    1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter

16. chemistryTo separate racemic compounds into their enantiomers.
17. archaictransitivemathematicsTo solve (an equation, etc.).

plural resolves

1. uncountableDetermination; will power.

   It took all my resolve to go through with the surgery.

   3 more examples

   Stripped of all bravado, Cersei breaks, and shows the very scared, vulnerable woman who has kept her emotions at bay. “I don’t want to die,” she whimpers, “Not like this.” It’s all the more moving for coming from a character who built her identity on steely resolve and contempt for such hoary conceits as fear.

   2019 May 12, Alex McLevy, “Westeros faces a disastrous final battle on the penultimate Game of Thrones (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 15 May 2019

   Alan Pardew's current squad has been put together with a relatively low budget but the resolve and unity within the team is priceless.

   2011 October 1, Saj Chowdhury, “Wolverhampton 1 - 2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport

   I wish for unending resolve, to always get up when I fall.

   2018, Jhariah Clare, “Sunsets (Resilience)”, in The Great Tale of How I Ruined it All

2. countableA determination to do something; a fixed decision.

   His resolve to die is weakening as he grows accustomed to Sophie's absence, and all his attempts to master irresolution only augment it.

   1995, William Arctander O'Brien, Novalis, Signs of Revolution, page 56

   1 more example

   And the having individually entertained four such resolves, without perceiving that once brought together, they all mutually expire; this, this ineffable folly, Pierre, brands thee in the forehead for an unaccountable infatuate!

   1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities

3. countableAn act of resolving something; resolution.

   Still, my mother said she loved me and the conversation soon ended, without resolve; possibly, this is also a dialog which is only beginning, or rather continuing.

   1986, Daniel Garrett, “Creating Ourselves: An Open Letter”, in Joseph Beam, editor, In The Life: A Black Gay Anthology, page 94

   1 more example

   Some operations require data that, in turn, requires that lightweight components be resolved. In these cases, this option determines whether the user is prompted to approve the resolve or whether components are just resolved automatically.

   2008, Matt Lombard, SolidWorks 2007 Bible, page 956

present singular third person resolves · participle present resolving · participle past resolved · past resolved

1. alternativeAlternative spelling of re-solve.