sub-sīdo, sēdi, sessum, 3 (collat. form acc. to 2d conj., subsīdent, Luc. 1, 646; Amm. 28, 4, 22), v. n. and a.
I Neutr. , to sit down , crouch down , squat; to set one's self down , settle down , sink down (class.).
A Lit.
1 In gen.: agite nunc, subsidite omnes, quasi solent triarii, Plaut. ap. Varr. L. L. 5, § 89 Müll.; and ap. Fest. p. 306 ib.; cf.: subsidunt Hispani adversus emissa tela ab hoste, inde ad mittenda ipsi consurgunt, Liv. 28, 2: partem militum subsidere in subsidiis jussit, id. 1, 14; cf.: poplite subsidens, Verg. A. 12, 492: alii elephanti clunibus subsidentes, Liv. 44, 5: subsedit in illā Ante fores ara, Ov. M. 9, 297.—
b Of things, to sink , settle , subside : sidebant campi, crescebant montibus altis Ascensus: neque enim poterant subsidere saxa, Lucr. 5, 493: valles, Ov. M. 1, 43; Curt. 9, 9, 19: limus mundi ut faex, Lucr. 5, 497; cf.: faeces in fundis vasorum, Col. 12, 50, 14; Sen. Ep. 108, 26: in urinā quod subsidit, si album est, etc., Plin. 28, 6, 19, § 68: aqua subsidit, settles , becomes clear , Auct. B. Alex. 5: flumina, fall , subside (opp. surgit humus), Ov. M. 1, 344: undae, subside , abate , Verg. A. 5, 820; hence, transf., venti, Prop. 1, 8, 13 (15); Ov. Tr. 2, 151.—Poet.: extremus galeāque imā subsidit Acestes, remains at the bottom , Verg. A. 5, 498: ebur posito rigore Subsidit digitis ceditque, gives way , yields , Ov. M. 10, 284: multae per mare pessum Subsedere suis pariter cum civibus urbes, are sunk , Lucr. 6, 590: terraene dehiscent Subsidentque urbes, Luc. 1, 646: subsidere fata videbat, sink , like the heavier weight on the scales, Sil. 6, 28.—
2 In partic.
a Pregn., to settle down , establish one's self in a place; to remain sitting , remain , abide , stay : si (apes) ex alvo minus frequentes evadunt ac subsidit pars aliqua, Varr. R. R. 3, 16, 36: subsedi in ipsā viā, Cic. Att. 5, 16, 1: in Siciliā, id. Fam. 6, 8, 2: multitudo ... quae in castris subsederat, * Caes. B. G. 6, 36: quosdam ex Vitelliis subsedisse Nuceriae, Suet. Vit. 1 fin. : in oppido Reatino, id. Vesp. 1: commixti corpore tantum Subsident Teucri, Verg. A. 12, 836; Quint. 2, 1, 3.—
β Of things: in Nilo navicula subsedit, ran aground , Liv. Epit. 112.—
b To crouch down on the watch , to lie in wait , lie in ambush : cur neque ante occurrit, ne ille in villā resideret: nec eo in loco subsedit, quo ille noctu venturus esset? Cic. Mil. 19, 51: si illum ad urbem noctu accessurum sciebat, subsidendum atque exspectandum fuit, id. ib. 19, 49: partem militum subsidere in insidiis jussit, Liv. 1, 14, 7; v. II. infra.—
c Of female animals, to yield , submit to the male (poet. and very rare): maribus subsidere (pecudes et equae), Lucr. 4, 1198: juvet ut tigres subsidere cervis, Hor. Epod. 16, 31.—
B Trop., to subside , decrease , abate (rare): in controversiis subsidit impetus dicendi, Quint. 3, 8, 60: nec silentio subsidat, sed firmetur consuetudine (vox), id. 11, 3, 24: vitia subsidunt, Sen. Ep. 94, 69: formidata subsidunt et sperata decipiunt, id. ib. 13, 12.—
2 To settle down : hinc accidit ut aetas jam altioribus disciplinis debita in scholā minore subsidat, i. e. is held back , Quint. 2, 1, 3.—
II Act. (acc. to I. A. 2. b.), to lie in wait for , to waylay any one (poet. and in post-class. prose): devictam Asiam (i. e. Agamemnonem) subsedit adulter, Verg. A. 11, 268: leonem, Sil. 13, 221: copiosos homines, Amm. 28, 4, 22: insontem, id. 16, 8, 3: serpens foramen, to watch , id. 16, 2, 4: regnum, Luc. 5, 226 Heyne and Mart. (dub. Lag. regno).