dwell

A birdhouse in which two little birds dwell.

verb

Dwell is defined as to live somewhere, to remain for a time or to continue thinking, writing or speaking about a particular point.

An example of dwell is to live in a cottage by the sea for several years.
An example of dwell is to continue feeling angry about an argument, even though it is long over.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"dwell." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/dwell>.

APA Style

dwell. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/dwell

dwell

intransitive verb

dwelt or dwelled, dwell′ing

to make one's home; reside; live

Origin of dwell

Middle English dwellen from Old English dwellan, to lead astray, hinder, akin to Old Norse dvelja, to delay from Indo-European an unverified form dh(e)wel-, to obscure, make dull

dwell Idioms

dwell on

to linger over in thought or speech; think about or discuss at length

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"dwell." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/dwell>.

APA Style

dwell. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/dwell

dwell

intransitive verb

dwelt, or dwelled dwell·ing, dwells

To live as a resident; reside.
To exist in a given place or state: dwell in joy.
a. To fasten one's attention on something, especially moodily or persistently: kept dwelling on what went wrong. See Synonyms at brood.
b. To speak or write at length; expatiate: dwelt on the need to trim the budget.

Origin of dwell

Middle English dwellen from Old English dwellan to mislead, delay, dwell

Related Forms:

dwell′er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"dwell." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/dwell>.

APA Style

dwell. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/dwell

Noun

(plural dwells)

(engineering) A period of time in which a system or component remains in a given state.
(engineering) A brief pause in the motion of part of a mechanism to allow an operation to be completed.
(electrical engineering) A planned delay in a timed control program.
(automotive) In a petrol engine, the period of time the ignition points are closed to let current flow through the ignition coil in between each spark. This is measured as an angle in degrees around the camshaft in the distributor which controls the points, for example in a 4-cylinder engine it might be 55° (spark at 90° intervals, points closed for 55° between each).

Verb

(third-person singular simple present dwells, present participle dwelling, simple past and past participle dwelt or dwelled (mostly US))

(intransitive, now literary) To live; to reside.
(intransitive) To linger (on) a particular thought, idea etc.; to remain fixated (on).
(intransitive, engineering) To be in a given state.
(intransitive) To abide; to remain; to continue.

Related terms