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Digging Up the History of Delve
We must dig deep into the English language’s past to find the origins of delve. The verb traces to the early Old English word delfan meaning “to dig.” For centuries, there was only delving—no digging—because dig didn’t exist until much later; it appears in early Middle English. Given dig and delve’s overlapping meanings today, is the phrase “dig and delve” (as in the line “eleven, twelve, dig and delve,” from the nursery rhyme that begins “one, two, buckle my shoe”) redundant? Not necessarily. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in some local uses, dig was the term for working with a mattock (a tool similar to an adze or a pick), while delve was reserved for work done using a spade. Although delve has a history of use for literal digging, nowadays the term is often applied to carefully researching or examining something, as in “delving into the past.”
Examples of delve in a Sentence
Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Feb. 2026
The conversation will delve into the meteoric rise of digital-first crime storytelling and the art of captivating audiences across platforms.
—William Earl, Variety, 25 Feb. 2026
Season 2 delves deeper into the NCIS Camp Pendleton team, led by the Mike Franks, as well as Gibbs’ early career as a special agent, and reveals the fate of Lala after last season’s devastating car crash.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 25 Feb. 2026
McMahon delves into the Florida landscape, mixing the rural with the urban, and real places such as Pembroke Pines and Gainesville with fictional, all of which capture the spirit of the Sunshine State.
—Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for delve
Cite this Entry
“Delve.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delve. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
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