▪ I. solve, n.
[f. next. Malone's alteration of solye = soyle: see soil n.5]
Solution.
| 1780 Shakspere's Sonn. (Malone) lxix. 14 The solve is this—that thou dost common grow. |
▪ II. solve, v.
(sɒlv)
Also 5 solvyn, 6–7 solue.
[ad. L. solvĕre to loosen, dissolve. So Sp. and Pg. solver, It. solvere.]
† 1. trans. To loosen; to break. Obs.
| c 1440 Alph. Tales 254 And on þis maner þai war wunt..for to solve þer faste. c 1450 Lydg. Secrees 1259 Afftir the sesouns Solve flewm brennyng or moysture. |
† 2. a. To unbind, untie. Obs.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 464/1 Solvyn, supra in onbyyndyn. c 1460 Ibid. (Winch.) 322 Onbyyndyn, or solvyn, soluo. 1616 Bullokar Eng. Exp., Solue, to vntie. 1658 Phillips, Solve, to loosen, or undo. |
† b. To absolve. Obs.—1
| 1550 Bale Image Both Ch. ii. xiii. e iij, Without y⊇ blynd bussynges of a papiste, may no synne be solued. |
3. To explain, clear up, resolve, answer.
| a 1533 Frith Disput. Purgat. (1829) 122 The second cause..is not solved of Rastell; but I had solved it before. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. M j, In the fyrste partycle is moued & solued certayne questyons. 1624 Gataker Transubst. 69 Solving all objections gathered out of their obscurer sayings against Catholic doctrine. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 573 That Theban Monster that propos'd Her riddle, and him, who solv'd it not, devour'd. 1726 Swift Gulliver iii. ii, He was then deep in a problem, and we attended at least an hour before he could solve it. 1777 Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. xxii. 284 This writer..suggests another method of solving this difficulty. 1841 Borrow Zincali iii. ii. II. 119 The following consideration will help to solve this point. 1885 Temple Relig. & Sci. v. 147 It leaves questions to be solved some of which have not been solved yet. |
| refl. 1855 Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 455 The problem of life..solves itself so very soon at best by death. |
† b. = salve v.2 1. Obs.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. 111, He hath coyned 72 Homocentrickes, to solue all app[e]arances. 1757 E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) I. 200 On account of solving appearances to her nicety. |
c. Math. To find the answer or solution to (a problem, etc.); to work out.
| 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 675 There must be found one Condition more to solve the Question, or to reduce it to only one unknown Quantity. 1806 Hutton Course Math. I. 247 The general method of solving quadratic equations, is by what is called completing the square. 1828 Moore Pract. Navig. 115 How to solve compound courses, or a traverse, has already been shown in Plane Sailing. 1878 Gurney Crystallog. 119 Anyone who can solve a spherical triangle will have no difficulty. |
4. To clear off; to pay or discharge.
| 1558 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) Table 1, The Bookes solved as the Dischardge thereof maye appeare in the saide Booke. 1624 White Reply to Fisher 564 Summes of money..to be solued to the Publicans of the Ecclesiasticall Roman Tribute. 1866 J. B. Rose tr. Ovid's Met. 219 Minos returned to his Curetan home, And solved his vows. 1874 Contemp. Rev. XXIV. 122 Estates in Hertfordshire..were able to pay {pstlg}17,509..towards solving the debt. |
5. To dissolve, put an end to, settle.
| 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 55 Hee..would..solve high dispute With conjugal Caresses. 1701 Steele Christian Hero 91 An Army, whose Swords can make right in Power, and solve controversy in Belief. a 1763 Shenstone Elegy xv. 86 These the sounds that chase unholy strife! Solve envy's charm. |
6. To dissolve; to melt.
| 1662 [see solved]. 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exper. Phil. I. x. 399 It will be easily solved in hot water. 1852 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIII. i. 170 The plant (grass) that takes up the material solved takes up the water also. 1880 Paper & Printing Trades Jrnl. xxxi. 4 Solve next a small quantity of bichromate of potassa in distilled water. |
| fig. 1839–52 Bailey Festus 23 The electric touch solved both our souls together. |
Hence solved ppl. a.; ˈsolving vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1662 J. Chandler Van Helmont's Oriat. 309 The solved flowre of Sulphur. Ibid., The solved Body of Sulphur it self. 1706 Stevens Span.-Eng. Dict. 1, Solución,..the Solving of a Question. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters II. 164 The solvent and solved both concur in producing these effects in the water. 1847 Emerson Poems, Threnody, My servant Death, with solving rite, Pours finite into infinite. 1852 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIII. i. 170 As long as the water is kept in motion it carries its solved substances with it. 1883 Fleming Old Violins 273 Its presence does not injure the solving power of the alcohol. 1895 Athenæum 25 May 665/2 The solving of the vexed questions that beset us. |