Resolve means determination or firmness of purpose. When you have resolve, you're committed to doing something no matter how difficult it becomes. A student with resolve keeps working on a challenging science project even when experiments fail repeatedly. An athlete with resolve continues training through sore muscles and setbacks.

The word describes the inner strength that keeps you going when you'd rather quit. Resolve is that unwavering commitment that carries you through difficult challenges. When your grandmother talks about her resolve to finish college while raising three children, she's describing the firm determination that carried her through years of late-night studying.

The word can also mean to solve a problem or settle a disagreement. When two friends resolve their argument, they work through it until they understand each other. When you resolve a puzzle, you figure it out completely. Scientists resolve questions through careful research.

Related to this, a resolution can be a firm decision to do something, like a New Year's resolution to read more books. It can also mean a solution: “The resolution of the mystery surprised everyone.”

Notice how both meanings connect to the idea of finishing something: either finishing what you started through determination, or finishing a problem by solving it. Resolve, whether as noun or verb, is about seeing things through to completion.