What exactly is a cash settlement?

A cash settlement can mean many things. As a very broad definition they can be described as: A way of ending an obligation or dispute by providing money to whomever you are indebted.Cash settlements are payed to plaintiffs in lawsuits, generally before the case is finished going through the court system. Cash settlements in trading can also refer to the act of paying out cash for an item to an individual instead of that individual actually purchasing an item. Example: I buy 1 oz of gold for $600. I receive some sort of paperwork stating that I own 1 oz of gold. When I sell this gold, I would then receive the value of my 1 oz of gold, whatever that may be at the time of the sale. The money I receive would be the cash settlement.