resolve

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To make a firm decision about.
2. v. To cause (a person) to reach a decision. See Synonyms at decide.
3. v. To decide or express by formal vote.
4. v. To change or convert: My resentment resolved itself into resignation.
5. v. To find a solution to; solve. See Synonyms at solve.
6. v. To remove or dispel (doubts).
7. v. To bring to a usually successful conclusion: resolve a conflict.
8. v. Medicine To cause reduction of (an inflammation, for example).
9. v. Music To cause (a tone or chord) to progress from dissonance to consonance.
10. v. Chemistry To separate (an optically inactive compound or mixture) into its optically active constituents.
11. v. To render parts of (an image) visible and distinct.
12. v. Mathematics To separate (a vector, for example) into coordinate components.
13. v. To melt or dissolve (something).
14. v. Archaic To separate (something) into constituent parts.
15. v. To reach a decision or make a determination: resolve on a course of action.
16. v. To become separated or reduced to constituents.
17. v. Music To undergo resolution.
18. n. Firmness of purpose; resolution.
19. n. A determination or decision; a fixed purpose.
20. n. A formal resolution made by a deliberative body.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To loosen; set loose or at ease; relax.
2. To melt; dissolve.
3. To disintegrate; reduce to constituent or elementary parts; separate the component parts of.
4. Specifically In medicine, to effect the disappearance of (a swelling) without the formation of pus.
5. To analyze; reduce by mental analysis.
6. To solve; free from perplexities; clear of difficulties; explain: as, to resolve questions of casuistry; to resolve doubts; to resolve a riddle.
7. In mathematics, to solve; answer (a question).
8. In algebra, to bring all the known quantities of (an equation) to one side, and the unknown quantity to the other.
9. In mech., to separate mathematically (a force or other vector quantity) into components, by the application of the parallelogram of forces, or of an analogous principle. The parts need not have independent reality.
10. To transform by or as by dissolution.
11. To free from doubt or perplexity; inform; acquaint; answer.
12. To settle in an opinion; make certain; convince.
13. To fix in a determination or purpose; determine; decide: used chiefly in the past participle.
14. To determine on; intend; purpose.
15. To make ready in mind; prepare.
16. To determine on; specifically, to express, as an opinion or determination, by or as by resolution and vote.
17. In music, of a voice-part or of the harmony in general, to cause to progress from a discord to a concord.
18. To melt; dissolve; become fluid.
19. To become separated into component or elementary parts; disintegrate; in general, to be reduced as by dissolution or analysis.
20. To form an opinion, purpose, or resolution; determine in mind; purpose: as, he resolved on amendment of life.
21. To be settled in opinion; be convinced.
22. In music, of a voice-part or of the harmony in general, to pass from a discord to a concord. Synonyms To decide, conclude.
23. n. The act of resolving or solving; resolution; solution.
24. n. An answer.
25. n. That which has been resolved or determined on; a resolution.
26. n. Firmness or fixedness of purpose; resolution; determination.
27. n. The determination or declaration of any corporation, association, or representative body; a resolution.
28. In optics, to make distinguishable, by means of an optical instrument, the details of structure of a body, or to separate by such means close-lying bodies, such as the stars in a cluster.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To find a solution to (a problem).
2. v. transitive To solve again.
3. v. intransitive To make a firm decision to do something.
4. v. To come to an agreement or make peace; patch up relationship, settle differences, bury the hatchet.
5. v. transitive, intransitive, reflexive To break down into constituent parts; to decompose; to disintegrate; to return to a simpler constitution or a primeval state.
6. v. music to cause a chord to go from dissonance to consonance
7. v. computing to find the IP address of a hostname by using utilities such as a ping
8. v. rare, transitive To melt; to dissolve; to liquefy or soften (a solid).
9. v. rare, intransitive, reflexive To melt; to dissolve; to become liquid.
10. v. obsolete, transitive To liquefy (a gas or vapour).
11. n. Determination, will power.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To separate the component parts of; to reduce to the constituent elements; -- said of compound substances; hence, sometimes, to melt, or dissolve.
2. v. To reduce to simple or intelligible notions; -- said of complex ideas or obscure questions; to make clear or certain; to free from doubt; to disentangle; to unravel; to explain; hence, to clear up, or dispel, as doubt.
3. v. To cause to perceive or understand; to acquaint; to inform; to convince; to assure; to make certain.
4. v. To determine or decide in purpose; to make ready in mind; to fix; to settle.
5. v. To express, as an opinion or determination, by resolution and vote; to declare or decide by a formal vote; -- followed by a clause.
6. v. To change or convert by resolution or formal vote; -- used only reflexively.
7. v. (Math.) To solve, as a problem, by enumerating the several things to be done, in order to obtain what is required; to find the answer to, or the result of.
8. v. (Med.) To dispere or scatter; to discuss, as an inflammation or a tumor.
9. v. (Mus.) To let the tones (as of a discord) follow their several tendencies, resulting in a concord.
10. v. obsolete To relax; to lay at ease.
11. v. To be separated into its component parts or distinct principles; to undergo resolution.
12. v. To melt; to dissolve; to become fluid.
13. v. rare To be settled in opinion; to be convinced.
14. v. To form a purpose; to make a decision; especially, to determine after reflection.
15. n. The act of resolving or making clear; resolution; solution.
16. n. That which has been resolved on or determined; decisive conclusion; fixed purpose; determination; also, legal or official determination; a legislative declaration; a resolution.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. reach a decision
2. n. a formal expression by a meeting; agreed to by a vote
3. v. cause to go into a solution
4. v. find the solution
5. n. the trait of being resolute
6. v. understand the meaning of
7. v. reach a conclusion after a discussion or deliberation
8. v. bring to an end; settle conclusively
9. v. make clearly visible