dwelling
Americannoun
noun
Synonym Usage
See house.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dwelling
Explanation
A dwelling is a home — where someone lives. Houses, apartments, and condos are all dwellings. If you know that to dwell means to live somewhere, then the meaning of dwelling won't be a surprise: it's an abode, domicile, or home. Your dwelling might be a house or an apartment. Tents, trailers, and igloos are all dwellings. Anything people live in is a dwelling. If you have no dwelling, then you have no shelter and you're probably homeless.
Vocabulary lists containing dwelling
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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There's No Word Like Home
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "D"
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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.
On 9 September 2024, she was ordered to remove the unauthorised dwelling and cease living in the barn.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
Her story covers the breadth of her life, dwelling especially on her youth in the 1930s among migrant fruit pickers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
The inspector ordered her to cease using the building as a dwelling, remove the unauthorised structure and demolish the "unlawful extension" to the barn.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
“Superman” star Nicholas Hoult has finally offloaded his longtime Los Angeles abode after the midcentury modern dwelling spent more than a year on the market.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
He rode down to Niflheim, the world of the dead, where he found the dwelling of Hela, or Hel, the Goddess of the Dead, all decked out in festal array.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
