Resolve Meaning
/ɹɪˈzɒlv/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo find a solution to (a problem).
verbTo reduce to simple or intelligible notions; to make clear or certain; to unravel; to explain.
Sentence Examples
The doctor's warning stiffened my resolve to stop drinking.
He made a resolve to stop smoking.
We need to find a way to resolve this conflict peacefully.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After hours of negotiation, the two sides finally managed to ____ their differences.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The mediator worked hard to ____ the dispute between the two companies before it reached the courts.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English resolven, from Old French resolver, a learned borrowing of Latin resolvō (“loosen, thaw, melt, resolve”), equivalent to re- + solve. Piecewise doublet of re-solve.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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]:
"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:
"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:
"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:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
After hours of negotiation, the two sides finally managed to ____ their differences.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The mediator worked hard to ____ the dispute between the two companies before it reached the courts.