▪ I. † subside, n. Obs.
Also -sede, -seyd, -syde.
[a. F. subside, ad. L. subsidium subsidy.]
= subsidy.
| c 1450 Brut ii. 329 He axed..a grete subsede to be graunted to hem, for defendyng of hem and of his reame. 1474 Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 215 The byschoppis subseyd at his fyrst entre. 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 193 The Rate of the Kyngis Custum and Subside of Marchaundises registred in the Escheker. 1542 Yatton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 156 Payd for the Kyngs subsyde xiij s. iiij d. 1553 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 54 Aqvittaunce..for the Subsede of the Church for the Svmma of iij li vj s. |
▪ II. subside, v.
(səbˈsaɪd)
[ad. L. subsīdĕre, f. sub- sub- 2 + sīdĕre to sit down.]
1. intr. To sink down, fall to the bottom, precipitate. Also with down.
| 1681 tr. Willis' Rem. Med. Wks. Vocab., Subside, to sink down, or fall to the bottom. 1696 Whiston Th. Earth iii. (1722) 278 Their Shells were buried among the other Bodies or Masses which subsided down. 1721 Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 9 Bodies of no more weight than Shells, or Teeth of Fishes, would subside themselves down to the bottom. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 98 Chalk laid on clay will, we know, subside. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (1862) ii. §i. 80 The precipitate is allowed to subside. 1877 Huxley Physiogr. 133 The gravel is the first to fall; then the sand subsides, and finally the mud settles down. |
2. To sink to a low or lower level, esp. of liquids or soil sinking to the normal level; (of valleys) to form a depression; (of a swelling or something inflated) to be reduced so as to become flat.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., The Streams Subside from their Banks. 1729 T. Cooke Tales, etc. 46 Where shady Mountains rise, and Vales subside. 1731 Arbuthnot Aliments ii. ii. (1735) 28 Small Air-Bladders..capable to be inflated by the Admission of Air, and to subside at the Expulsion of it. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 151 When the earth hath fully subsided, and become firm and solid [etc.]. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 609 The mountains converge into a single ridge, which..subsides into plain country. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 76 On pouring a quantity of water into one limb, the water will rise in the other, and when left undisturbed, will subside at an equal height in both. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam vii. xxvii, The Eagle..The eager plumes subsided on his throat. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 513 A little [earth] is left elevated immediately over the drain, to subside to the usual level of the ground. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 34 The waters of the Nile had subsided. 1885 Law Rep. 10 Prob. Div. 87 A small blister, which subsided in a day or two. |
b. Of a mass of earth, etc.: To fall or give way as the result of dynamic disturbance, etc.
| 1773 Cook's Voy. ii. xiv. (1842) I. 329 A large tract of country, of which it was part, subsided by some convulsion of nature. 1840 Lyell Princ. Geol. iii. xvi. (ed. 6) III. 345 Buildings which have at different times subsided beneath the level of the sea. 1879 A. R. Wallace's Australasia i. 11 The bottom of the ocean is itself even now subsiding more and more. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 July 5/1 We suspect that when the great basin of Taupo comes to be explored by the sounding lead, an extinct volcano, crater and all, will be found subsided in its midst. |
c. Of persons: To sink down into or on to a chair, etc.
| 1879 F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. i. vi, She subsided into the easy-chair. 1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. ix, The subject of the joke subsided on to a chair where she sat giggling. |
3. Of the sea, wind, storm: To sink to rest, abate.
| a 1721 Prior Tale from Boccace 55 Wks. 1907 II. 343 Not Waves and winds Subside more sudden. 1740 Pitt æneid vii. 9 The Sea subsiding, and the Tempests o'er. 1839 Thirlwall Greece xlix. VI. 168 The wind had already subsided. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 54 Beneath where..soft the tree-top swell subsides. |
4. Of strong feeling, excitement, clamour, and the like: To cease from agitation, fall into a state of quiet or of less violence or activity.
| a 1700 Evelyn Diary Sept. 1644, Our desire of revenge had by this time subsided. 1772 Toplady in R. Palmer Bk. Praise (1866) 436 Soon shall our doubts and fears Subside at His control. 1778 Burney Evelina xxxiii. (1791) I. 177 Her anger now subsiding into grief. 1783 Crabbe Village ii. 183 Cease then that grief, and let those tears subside. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's iv, The clamour which attends the removal of dinner from a public room had subsided. 1855 Poultry Chron. III. 170 Buying and selling fowls has subsided from an excitement to a natural business transaction. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xxix, They parted with softening, dropping voices, subsiding into silence. 1892 ‘F. Anstey’ Voces Pop. Ser. ii. 156 The hubbub gradually subsides. |
b. Of a condition: To die down, pass away, wear off. Of an action: To be discontinued.
| 1751 Chesterfield Lett. cclviii, Your fencing likewise..may subside for the summer. 1762 T. Mortimer Ev. Man Own Broker (ed. 5) 20 The probability of the premium (given on any Stock) totally subsiding. 1780 in Lett. Earl Malmesbury (1870) I. 460, I shall go when the novelty is a little subsided. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iii. 60 Too soon The slumber of intemperance subsides. |
5. Of persons: To fall into an inactive or less active or efficient state.
| 1728 Young Love of Fame vii. 196 His swelling soul subsides to native peace. 1847 Mrs. Gore Castles in Air xix, I am not sure but I would rather live in the King's Bench..than subside into a country Squire. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. xv, ‘That was well done!’ panted Bella, slackening in the next street, and subsiding into a walk. 1885 Manch. Exam. 22 June 5/3 After a very promising career..he has subsided into a quiet and indifferent attitude. |
b. To cease from activity; esp. to lapse into silence.
| 1871 Cincinnati Comm. Apr. (Schele de Vere Americanisms 638) Thereupon the doughty General subsided, but it would be a great mistake to suppose that he will remain silent. 1880 Daily News 1 July, Being told he must keep quiet or be arrested he subsided. |
6. To be merged in; to pass into. rare.
| 1781 T. Simes Milit. Guide (ed. 3) 4 Politeness should exceed authority, and the Officer subside in the gentleman. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. I. xii. 267 The old life was..never entirely to subside into the new. |
† 7. trans. To cause to sink in. Obs. rare.
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 75 The roots of that prominencie which subsides the apple of the eye. |