delve
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
-
to inquire or research deeply or intensively (for information, etc)
he delved in the Bible for quotations
-
to search or rummage (in a drawer, the pockets, etc)
-
(esp of an animal) to dig or burrow deeply (into the ground, etc)
-
archaic (also tr) to dig or turn up (earth, a garden, etc), as with a spade
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of delve
First recorded before 900; Middle English delven, Old English delfan; cognate with Dutch delven, Old High German telban
Explanation
The verb delve means to dig into, loosen, or investigate. She delved into her family's history and discovered an inventor, a checkers champion, and a circus equestrian in her ancestry. Delve has a literal meaning of to dig into the earth ("to delve the soil," as in preparing a garden, for example), but this sense is rare now. The verb is most often used in the more figurative sense — like to delve into a problem or into someone's personal life.
Vocabulary lists containing delve
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
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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.
They even delve into the order and timing of the deaths of the clients, which is particularly tricky when it involves a married couple.
From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026
The indictment stems from the earliest days of the pandemic in the first months of 2020, when scientists were trying to get their arms around the novel coronavirus and delve into its features and origins.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026
Think of it like a credit checking agency: they might delve into your financial background, but it's the bank that decides in the end if you get the loan.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
Many of Langley’s most affecting tracks delve into love’s ugly aftermath—they are sobering, if rarely sober.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
He ignored me and seemed to delve into his book.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
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.
