dwell
Americanverb (used without object)
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dwells,
present (3rd person singular)
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dwelt,
past participle, past
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dwelled,
past participle, past
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dwelling
present participle
-
to live or stay as a permanent resident; reside.
-
to live or continue in a given condition or state.
to dwell in happiness.
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to linger over, emphasize, or ponder in thought, speech, or writing (often followed by on orupon ).
to dwell on a particular point in an argument.
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(of a moving tool or machine part) to be motionless for a certain interval during operation.
noun
verb
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formal to live as a permanent resident
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to live (in a specified state)
to dwell in poverty
noun
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a regular pause in the operation of a machine
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a flat or constant-radius portion on a linear or rotary cam enabling the cam follower to remain static for a brief time
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dwellsimple
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dwellssimple
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have dwelledperfect
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have dweltperfect
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has dwelledperfect
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has dweltperfect
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am dwellingprogressive
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are dwellingprogressive
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is dwellingprogressive
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have been dwellingperfect progressive
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has been dwellingperfect progressive
Past
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dwelledsimple
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dweltsimple
-
had dwelledperfect
-
had dweltperfect
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was dwellingprogressive
-
were dwellingprogressive
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had been dwellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dwell
First recorded before 900; Middle English dwellen “to lead astray; stun; abide,” Old English dwellan “to lead or go astray; hinder”; cognate with Old Norse dvelja
Explanation
To dwell in a home is to live in it. To dwell on something — usually something bad, like a failed romance or terrible service in a restaurant — is to think or speak about it at great length. Dwell has been part of the English language for over 1,000 years. The definition of the word has evolved considerably since its first recorded use in the 9th century when Old English dwellan meant "lead astray" or "hinder." If you constantly dwell on the bad things in life, it could hinder you from seeing the good or lead you astray to the negative. If you keep complaining, your friends might tell you to stop dwelling on it or, if they're really annoyed, they'll say, "Get over it!"
Vocabulary lists containing dwell
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Crucially, the negative value of the weakly measured dwell time cannot be explained by imagining that only the front of the photon’s pulse gets through, unlike the time inferred from the arrival time.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
I didn’t dwell on it at the time because I think such visits are kind of ho-hum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
While the former Real Madrid manager has been keen not to dwell on last season's shortcomings, his coaching at Cobham suggests he has been paying close attention to them.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
"Rattlesnakes occupy an important role in the ecosystems they dwell in and in recent years their populations have dropped significantly in many parts of the United States."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
“Didn’t have time to dwell on it. Just seemed like the right thing to do.”
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
He never dwells on errors, he just kicks on.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
A 1772 meditation about the crucifixion by a man who struggled with depression all his life, the hymn dwells on Christ’s gory death and evokes the metaphor of sinners bathing in blood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
Ms. Kondo dwells on the kyureki lunisolar calendar, which breaks down our four seasons into six segments, with 24 divisions, or sekki, among them—and even further still into five-day segments known as ko.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
The deep-sea is still largely unexplored and biodiversity surveys of these habitats are vital to increase our understanding of the incredible marine life that dwells in the depths of our oceans.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2025
“Something evil dwells in this castle, something wicked enough to make the stars quake. Its malice echoes into all worlds,” the queen went on.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
“The God who once dwelled among His people in this city still calls us in the words of Scripture,” the president said in a speech at Israel’s parliament in October.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
Vance’s most heated points about gender dwelled not on hormones but on LGBTQ+ issues.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2024
England fans dwelled on the agonising near misses in the knockout stages of major tournaments - Diego Maradona's handball in 1986, losses on penalties to Germany in 1990 and 1996.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2024
On Saturday, the group’s president, David McIntosh, sat in the front row of a Trump rally in Conway, S.C., a detail that the former president repeatedly dwelled on for his audience.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
“Adiah has dwelled in my realm for ninety-nine of your mortal years,” she said sharply.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Any single run of the experiment gives only a very rough indication of whether the photon dwelt in the atoms, but averaging millions of runs yields an accurate dwell time.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
Indeed, commentators seem to have dwelt on little else.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
That song opened Friday night's encore, which dwelt largely on their 90s material, including Let Down - a deep cut that's had a new lease of life on TikTok - and the epic Paranoid Android.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025
Although the globe's top financiers dwelt little on the conflict, speaking about topics such as artificial intelligence, the economic fallout of war combined with record debts as rates rise created a bleak backdrop.
From Reuters ● Oct. 24, 2023
He lost his Self a thousand times and for days on end he dwelt in non-being.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
The decline in dwelling prices has gathered momentum in recent months as interest rates have risen, while a decision make tax arrangements less attractive for property investors has also weighed on the market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Untouched by the 2025 California wildfires, the dwelling features floor-to-ceiling glass windows that invite in an abundance of natural light and create a seamless indoor-outdoor flow.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
The Canal and River Trust says that, post-Covid, our waterways have increasingly become "places of dwelling".
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
If we were to make a precise measurement of whether the photon is dwelling in the atoms, at each instant of time, we would prevent the atoms from interacting with the photon.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
He owned sail lofts and shops, and also dwelling houses standing at the head of the wharf.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
