deliverance
Americannoun
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an act or instance of delivering.
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a thought or judgment expressed; a formal or authoritative pronouncement.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of deliverance
1250–1300; Middle English deliveraunce < Old French delivrance, equivalent to delivr ( er ) to deliver + -ance -ance
Explanation
If you’re seeking deliverance, you want to be set free or removed from a bad situation. If you're taken hostage in a bank heist, you might pray for deliverance. You probably notice that deliver makes up a big chunk of deliverance. One meaning of deliver is “to set free” — and that’s what deliverance is: the act of setting someone free. Deliverance often has religious connotations, but the word can be used for other kinds of rescue or liberation. You might want deliverance from the hardship of working on your uncle’s farm all summer, or at least deliverance from the smell of manure.
Vocabulary lists containing deliverance
The Giver
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"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" by Frederick Douglass
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Mahatma Gandhi's "Quit India" Speech
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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.
Parton - whose earliest performances were in church as a child - referred to it as her "song of deliverance", helping her on the road to stardom.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Rossetti, a licensed psychologist and unusually prolific exorcist, has “led hundreds of exorcism and deliverance sessions,” according to the website of his exorcism-focused nonprofit organization.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
For all the book’s historic figures, Mr. Dugard emerges as its most endearing character—the awkward child who was lousy at softball but found deliverance in running and would later compete in marathons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Many Venezuelans are hoping for a deliverance, but not, it seems, at the cost of selling off the country’s riches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2026
I think that he wants to defy them, too, with this deliberation, each of his steps a careful word to break down the ready meter they have built, each halting a kind of instant deliverance.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
