Lewis & Short

sub-sīdo, sēdi, sessum, 3 (collat. form acc. to 2d conj., subsīdent, Luc. 1, 646; Amm. 28, 4, 22), v. n. and a.

  1. I. Neutr., to sit down, crouch down, squat; to set one’s self down, settle down, sink down (class.).
    1. A. Lit.
      1. 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.
        1. 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. 2. In partic.
        1. 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.
          1. (β) Of things: in Nilo navicula subsedit, ran aground, Liv. Epit. 112.
        2. 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.
        3. 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.
    2. 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.
      1. 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.
  2. 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).