Adjacent Words

Dwell definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DWELL, v.i. pret. dwelled, usually contracted into dwelt. [See Dally.]
1. To abide as a permanent resident, or to inhabit for a time; to live in a place; to have a habitation for some time or permanence.
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. Genesis 9.
Dwell imports a residence of some continuance. We use abide for the resting of a night or an hour; but we never say, he dwelt in a place a day or a night. Dwell may signify a residence for life or for a much shorter period, but not for a day. In scripture, it denotes a residence of seven days during the feast of tabernacles.
Ye shall dwell in booths seven days. Leviticus 23.
The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John 1.
2. To be in any state or condition; to continue.
To dwell in doubtful joy.
3. To continue; to be fixed in attention; to hang upon with fondness.
The attentive queen dwelt on his accents.
They stand at a distance, dwelling on his looks and language, fixed in amazement.
4. To continue long; as, to dwell on a subject, in speaking, debate or writing; to dwell on a note in music.
Dwell, as a verb transitive, is not used. We who dwell this wild, in Milton, is not a legitimate phrase.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: think moodily or anxiously about something [syn: brood, dwell]
2: originate (in); "The problems dwell in the social injustices in this country" [syn: dwell, consist, lie, lie in]
3: inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of; "People lived in Africa millions of years ago"; "The people inhabited the islands that are now deserted"; "this kind of fish dwells near the bottom of the ocean"; "deer are populating the woods" [syn: populate, dwell, live, inhabit]
4: exist or be situated within; "Strange notions inhabited her mind" [syn: dwell, inhabit]
5: come back to; "Don't dwell on the past"; "She is always harping on the same old things" [syn: harp, dwell]

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb (dwelled or dwelt; dwelling) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English dwellan to go astray, hinder; akin to Old High German twellen to tarry Date: 13th century 1. to remain for a time 2. a. to live as a resident b. exist, lie 3. a. to keep the attention directed — used with on or upon <tried not to dwell on my fears> b. to speak or write insistently — used with on or upon <leering reviewers dwelled on a publicity photograph — James Atlas> • dweller noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. (past and past part. dwelt or dwelled) 1 literary (usu. foll. by in, at, near, on, etc.) live, reside (dwelt in the forest). 2 (of a horse) be slow in raising its feet; pause before taking a fence. --n. a slight, regular pause in the motion of a machine. Phrases and idioms: dwell on (or upon) 1 spend time on, linger over; write, brood, or speak at length on (a specified subject) (always dwells on his grievances). 2 prolong (a note, a syllable, etc.). Derivatives: dweller n. Etymology: OE dwellan lead astray, later 'continue in a place', f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dwell Dwell, v. t. To inhabit. [R.] --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dwell Dwell, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dwelled, usually contracted into Dwelt (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Dwelling.] [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dv["a]ljas to dwell, Dan. dv[ae]le to linger, and to E. dull. See Dull, and cf. Dwale.] 1. To delay; to linger. [Obs.] 2. To abide; to remain; to continue. I 'll rather dwell in my necessity. --Shak. Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart. --Wordsworth. 3. To abide as a permanent resident, or for a time; to live in a place; to reside. The parish in which I was born, dwell, and have possessions. --Peacham. The poor man dwells in a humble cottage near the hall where the lord of the domain resides. --C. J. Smith. To dwell in, to abide in (a place); hence, to depend on. ``My hopes in heaven to dwell.'' --Shak. To dwell on or upon, to continue long on or in; to remain absorbed with; to stick to; to make much of; as, to dwell upon a subject; a singer dwells on a note. They stand at a distance, dwelling on his looks and language, fixed in amazement. --Buckminster. Syn: To inhabit; live; abide; sojourn; reside; continue; stay; rest.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dwells, dwelling, dwelt, or dwelled) 1. If you dwell on something, especially something unpleasant, you think, speak, or write about it a lot or for quite a long time. I'd rather not dwell on the past. VERB: V on/upon n 2. If you dwell somewhere, you live there. (FORMAL) They are concerned for the fate of the forest and the Indians who dwell in it... = live VERB: V prep/adv 3. see also dwelling

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Tents were in primitive times the common dwellings of men. Houses were afterwards built, the walls of which were frequently of mud (Job 24:16; Matt. 6:19, 20) or of sun-dried bricks.

God "dwells in light" (1 Tim. 6:16; 1 John 1:7), in heaven (Ps. 123:1), in his church (Ps. 9:11; 1 John 4:12). Christ dwelt on earth in the days of his humiliation (John 1:14). He now dwells in the hearts of his people (Eph. 3:17-19). The Holy Spirit dwells in believers (1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14). We are exhorted to "let the word of God dwell in us richly" (Col. 3:16; Ps. 119:11).

Dwell deep occurs only in Jer. 49:8, and refers to the custom of seeking refuge from impending danger, in retiring to the recesses of rocks and caverns, or to remote places in the desert.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dwel:

(1) In the Old Testament "dwell" is a translation of 9 words, of which by far the most frequent is yashabh, "to sit down," translated "dwell" over 400 times (Ge 4:20; Jos 20:4; 1Ch 17:1,4,5, etc.); also very frequently "sit," and sometimes "abide," "inhabit," "remain." Another word often rendered "dwell" is shakhan or shakhen ("to settle down"), from which is derived the rabbinic word shekhinah (literally, "that which dwells"), the light on the mercy-seat which symbolized the Divine presence (Ex 25:8, etc.). In order to avoid appearing to localize the Divine Being, wherever God is said to "dwell" in a place, the Targum renders that He "causes His Shekinah to dwell" there.

(2) In the New Testament "dwell" most frequently stands for oikeo, or one of its compounds; also skenoo, and (chiefly in the Johannine writings) meno, which, however, is always translated "abide" in the Revised Version (British and American), and generally in the King James Version. Mention may be made of the mystical significance of the word in some New Testament passages, of the indwelling of the Father or of the Godhead in Christ (Joh 14:10; Col 1:19; 2:9), of the believer in Christ (Joh 6:56 the King James Version; Eph 3:17), and in God (1 Joh 4:15 the King James Version; compare Ps 90:1; 91:1), and of the Holy Spirit or God in the believer (Joh 14:17; the King James Version 1Joh 3:24; 4:15 f).

D. Miall Edwards

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Inhabit, reside, live, stay, sojourn, tarry, abide, be settled, have a habitation.

Moby Thesaurus

abide, berth, bide, bunk, carry on, cohabit, continue, continue to be, defeat time, defy time, dig, domicile, domiciliate, doss down, emphasize, endure, exist, extend, focus on, go on, hang out, harp on, hold, hold on, hold out, inhabit, inhere, keep, keep on, labor, last, last long, last out, lie, live, live on, live through, lodge, maintain, nest, occupy, perch, perdure, perennate, persist, persist in, prevail, remain, reside, rest, room, roost, run, run on, squat, stand, stay, stay on, stress, subsist, survive, sustain, tarry, tenant, tide over, wear, wear well