Definition of dwell
dwelled
play play \ˈdweld, ˈdwelt\ ordwelt
\ˈdwelt\;dwelling
intransitive verb
1 : to remain for a time dwell in the hallway
2a : to live as a resident the town in which he dwelled for eight years the dwelling place of the godsb : exist, lie where the heart of the matter dwells
3a : to keep the attention directed —used with on or upon tried not to dwell on my fearsb : to speak or write insistently —used with on or upon reporters dwelling on the recent scandal
dweller
nounFrom the M-W Editors
Examples of dwell in a Sentence
a cave where bats dwell
dwelling with a farm family as an exchange student in France
Recent Examples of dwell from the Web
-
Its mousebird descendants—about the size of a sparrow and marked by their soft, grayish or brownish hairlike feathers—still dwell in trees in sub-Saharan Africa today.
-
That’s hypothetical, of course — but what isn’t hypothetical is that, in our times, there is no apparent benefit to dwelling on the IQ gap.
-
The novel rarely dwells on the potential consequences of wrestling through injury; rather, Habash glorifies certain aspects of Stephen’s sacrifice.
-
The various licensing agreements that kept Spidey out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until now are too arcane to dwell on but their end is worth celebrating.
-
Use spinosad, an organic insecticide made from a type of soil-dwelling bacteria.
-
Then again, such times usually engender a pretty sweeping sense of community anyway, leading most folks to not dwell on such matters, at least momentarily.
-
An estimated five billion will be dwelling in cities by 2030—and half of them will be moving into homes and workplaces that do not yet exist.
-
Also new is that rental income from accessory dwelling units (ADUs), such as granny flats, can be used to qualify for a loan.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dwell.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of dwell
Middle English, from Old English dwellan to go astray, hinder; akin to Old High German twellen to tarry
DWELL Defined for English Language Learners
DWELL Defined for Kids
Learn More about dwell
-
See words that rhyme with dwell Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for dwell Spanish Central: Translation of dwell Nglish: Translation of dwell for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of dwell for Arabic speakers
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up dwell? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!