- present participle of dwell.
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.
Now, however, it seems Quaid is ready to sever his remaining ties to California, putting his dwelling on the market for just over $1 million more than he paid for it nearly 10 years ago.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 7, 2026
The newly documented behavior, observed in Israel, is the first of its kind and suggests that human made lighting can dramatically disrupt the instincts of small ground dwelling animals.
From Science Daily • Jul. 6, 2026
States such as California and New York have loosened regulations around building accessory dwelling units in recent years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 5, 2026
The 63-year-old retiree said life in the village was now like dwelling in "a sewer".
From Barron's • Jul. 3, 2026
He would lie by the hour, eager, alert, at Thornton’s feet, looking up into his face, dwelling upon it, studying it, following with keenest interest each fleeting expression, every movement or change of feature.
From "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London
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.
